TO     ^ 


Tales  of  the  Trades 


A    Presentation  of   Facts  Concerning  the 
Making    of    Articles     in    Everyday    Use 


PUBLISHED    BY 

The  Merchants  and  Travelers  Association 

-X^, 

PHILADELPHIA 

1906 


COPYRIGHT 

BY 
THE  MERCHANTS  AND  TRAVELERS  ASSOCIATION 

PHILADELPHIA 


PRESS  OF  THE 
JOHV  C.  WINSTON  CO. 
PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


Foreword 

N  sending  out  this  publication,  which  is  intended  to  show 
something  of  the  vastness  and  diversity  of  Philadelphia's 
manufacturing  interests,  and  also  the  strength  of  the 
tactical  position  occupied  by  her  wholesale  houses,  the 
MERCHANTS  AND  TRAVELERS  ASSOCIATION  of  Philadelphia 
desires  to  say  a  few  words  concerning  its  work. 
Formed  for  the  purpose  of  exploiting  the  manufacturing  and  dis- 
tributing advantages  of  the  city,  it  has  also  endeavored  to  obtain  such 
concessions  from  the  railroads  as  would  more  readily  induce  the  mer- 
chants throughout  the  country  to  visit  Philadelphia  when  on  their 
buying  trips — one  result  of  these  efforts  being  the  stop-over  privilege. 
All  tickets  on  any  road  via  Philadelphia  now  carry  a  stop-over  privilege. 
The  Association  has  constantly  and  effectively  advanced  the  City's 
trade  interests  by  a  publicity  campaign  which  has  been  broad  in  its 
scope  and  which  has  been  an  important  factor  in  the  growth  of  the  City's 
wholesale  trade. 

This  book  is  one  of  a  series  of  documents  which  have  called  the 
attention  of  the  trade  of  the  country  at  large  to  the  paramount  advantages 
of  Philadelphia  as  a  buying  centre  and  the  high  quality  of  product  that 
comes  from  its  vast  and  complex  manufacturing  system.  It  is  intended 
to  present  information  as  to  general  processes  rather  than  to  furnish  a 
great  array  of  confusing  figures.  It  is  not  the  purpose  even  to  endeavor 
to  cover  the  entire  field  of  manufactures,  but  rather  to  give  an  interest- 
ing variety  of  subjects,  with  the  hope  that  Philadelphia  and  its  enter- 
prises may  become  even  better  known  and  appreciated. 


^^^ss 


CONTENTS 


LIST  OF  MEMBERS      .            .           •.            .  •••'..'•        .  .        6 

INTRODUCTION      .           ...           .           .           .           .  15 

FASHIONING  THE  HAT            .           .           .           .           .  .17 

RAISING  AN  UMBRELLA    .            .            .            .            .            .  23 

THE  MANUFACTURE  OF  WORSTED  YARNS    .            -.  •          .  .27 

How  PIECE  GOODS  ARE  MADE    .....  33 

BUILDING  A  SUIT  OF  CLOTHES          .            .            .            .  .      37. 

THE  CREATION  OF  WOMEN'S  GARMENTS           ...  43 

THE  STORY  OF  AN  EIDERDOWN  SACK           .            .            .  .47 

SHOES  IN  THE  MAKING     ...           .            .            .            .  51 

PLEASING  THE  FANCY  IN  LEATHER  GOODS  ...  .55 

REARING  RIBBONS             .            .            ...            .  59 

THE  MAGIC  GROWTH  OF  A  CURTAIN          ;            .            .  .      63 

THE  HISTORY  OF  A  CARPET  ROLL       -  .            .            .            .  68 

HOSIERY  AND  UNDERWEAR  MAKING             .            .            .  .73 

THE  NEW  WAY  IN  TAPESTRY  MAKING             ...  77 

THE  ART  OF  THE  METAL  WORKER             .  '.•         .            .  .      81 

THE  SHORT  CUT  IN  FURNITURE  MAKING         ...  85 

FROM  PULP  MILL  TO  BOOK  SHELF  .            .            .            .  .89 

FROM  PIGMENT  TO  PAINT  POT  .  95 


Representative  Business 
Houses  of  Philadelphia 

MEMBERS  OF  MERCHANTS  AND 
TRAVELERS    ASSOCIATION 


List  of  Members 


J.  w. 

}.  Th 


BABY  CARRIAGES. 
L.  Richer  &  Co 16  North  Fourth  Street 

BEDDING,  BRASS  AND  ENAMELED  BEDS. 
Wm.  H.  McMahen    244-48  South  Second  Street 

BELTING,  LEATHER. 

Graton  &  Knight  Manufacturing  Co 132  North  Third  Street 

J.  E.  Rhoads  &  Sons    239  Market  Street 

Shultz  Belting  Co 1 16  North  Third  Street 

BELTING,  LEVIATHAN. 

Main  Belting  Co 1219-1241  Carpenter  Street 

BONNET  AND  HAT  FRAMES. 

Calver  &  Co 704  Arch  Street 

Thompson  Riday   707  Arch  Street 

BOOTS  AND  SHOES. 

DeCou  Bros.  &  Co 613  Market  Street 

T.  G.  Grieb  &  Sons 531  Market  Street 

Kern,  Lauderbach  &  Co 53  North  Third  Street 

Geo.  S.  Lott  &  Co 313  Market  Street 

Jos.  I.  Meany  &  Co 523  Market  Street 

Masters  &  Hoffman 1-3  N.  Fifth  Street 

Monroe  Bros.  &  Co 438  Market  Street 

Morrison,  Mcllvaine  &  Co 1 1   North  Fourth  Street 

J.  R.  Newton  &  Co.   .  . 507  Arch  Street 

Paul  Brothers 333  Market  Street 

Philadelphia  Shoe  Co.,  Inc , 12  North  Third  Street 

Smaltz-Goodwin  Co Eleventh  and  Race  Streets 

Stevenson  Bros : 13  North  Fourth  Street 

Weimer,  Wright  &  Watkin 1210-1212  Arch  Street 

The  Geo.  H.  West  Shoe  Co 18  North  Third  Street 

BOXES,  SHOOKS  AND  LUMBER. 
T.  B.  Rice  &  Sons  Co Mifflin  Street  Wharf 

BRAIDS,  WORSTED  AND  WOOL  YARNS. 
S.  B.  &.  B.  W.  Fleisher 28  South  Sixth  Street 

BRONZE  STATUARY. 
Bureau  Bros S.  W.  cor.   2ist  and  Allegheny  Avenue 

BUILDERS'  MATERIALS  AND  CEMENT. 
Chas.  Warner  Co Land  Title  Building 

(6) 


List  of  Members  7 

BUILDING  MATERIAL  AND  COLD  STORAGE  SUPPLIES. 

Frank  S.  De  Ronde  Co 221   North  Fourth  Street 

BUTTER,  CHEESE  AND  EGGS. 
J.  R.  Snyder  &  Co 4  South  Water  Street 

CARRIAGE  AND  SADDLERY  HARDWARE. 

Kennedy,  Willing  &  Co 526  Arch  Street 

CARPETS. 

Artman-Treichler  Co 714  Market  Street 

Jas.  &  Geo.  D.  Bromley Adams  and  Jasper  Streets 

Dickey  &  McMaster S.  W.  cor.   2d  &  Huntingdon  Streets 

Dornan  Bros Howard,  Oxford  &  Mascher  Streets 

H.  G.  Fetterolf   Wayne  Junction,  Phila. 

Fry.  Glanz  &  Hall   1025  Market  Street 

Peterson  Carpet  Co 1919  Market  Street 

F.  G.   Rogers    101 1  Filbert  Street 

Schofield,  Mason  &  Co Fairhill  &  Cumberland  Streets 

Ivins,  Deitz  &  Metzger  Co 1220  Market  Street 

CIGARS. 

Otto  Eisenlohr  &  Bro 940  Market  Street 

Gumpert  Bros 114  North  Seventh  Street 

B.    Lipschutz    44  North  Twelfth  Street 

Oblinger  Bros.  &  Co 615  Market  Street 

Schoenfeld  &  Batzofin   434  Market  Street 

Vetterlein  Bros 144-146  North  Fifth  Street 

CIGARETTES. 
Stephano  Bros 904  Walnut  Street 

CLOAKS  AND  SUITS. 

Blum   Brothers    Tenth  and  Market  Streets 

Philadelphia  Cloak  &  Suit  Co 135  North   i2th  Street 

Sacks    Bros 1220-1228  Cherry  Street 

Strawbridge  &  Clothier 813  Filbert  Street 

CLOTHING. 

W.  &.  T.  Allen  &  Co 718  Market  Street 

Arnold,  Louchheim  &  Co N.  E.  cor.   i  ith  &  Wood  Streets 

Fleisher   Bros 513  Market  Street 

Frank  Bros.  &  Co 51   North  Third  Street 

A.  B.  Kirschbaum  &  Co Broad  and  Carpenter  Streets 

David  Lees  &  Co 40  North  Third  Street 

Liveright,  Greenewald  &  Co S.  W.  cor.   i3th  and  Arch  Streets 

Netter,  Oppenheimer  &  Co 38  North  Third  Street 

Schoeneman  &  Salsburg    57  North  Third  Street 

CLOTHING,  SUMMER  AND  FANCY  VESTS. 
A.  Guggenheim  &  Co 1210  Race  Street 

CORNED  TIP  SHOE  LACE  MANUFACTORY. 

Diamond  Tip  Shoe  Lace  Co 25 26$  Diamond  Street 

COTTON  YARNS. 
Richard  A.  Blythe 114  Chestnut  Street 


8  List  of  Members 

CROCKERY,  LAMPS  AND  GLASSWARE. 

Fisher,  Bruce  &  Co 221   Market  Street 

CUT  GLASS  MANUFACTURERS. 

Quaker  City  Cut  Glass  Co Sixtieth  Street  and  Baltimore  Avenue 

DESIGNERS,  ILLUSTRATORS  AND  ENGRAVERS. 

Gatchel  &  Manning  Co 27  to  41   South  Sixth  Street 

DRESS  GOODS. 

Wm.  F.  Read  &  Sons  Co 209  Chestnut  Street 

DRY  GOODS. 

Folwell  Bro.  &  Co 625  Chestnut  Street 

Howett- Warner  Co 429  Market  Street 

Miller,  Bain,  Beyer  &  Co N.  W.  cor.  Tenth  and  Filbert  Streets 

Strawbridge  &  Clothier   813  Filbert  Street 

Wm.  H.  Thomas  &  Co 622  Market  Street 

Thompson,  Cramp  &  Co 101 1   Filbert  Street 

Watson  &  Co 21  South  Sixth  Street 

W.  P.  West  &  Son 1 1   Bank  Street 


Smith,  Kline  &  French  Co 429-435  Arch  _Street 

id  Gr 


DRUGS. 

Valentine  H.  Smith  &  Co Second  and"  "Green  Streets 

DRUGGISTS'  GLASSWARE  AND  SUNDRIES. 
John  M.  Maris  &  Co 312  Market  Street 

DYERS  AND  FINISHERS. 
Firth  &  Foster  Co York,  Emerald  and  Adams  Streets 

ELECTRICAL  SUPPLIES. 

Frank  H.  Stewart  Electric  Co 35  North  Seventh  Street 

ELEVATORS 

United  States  Elevator  Co 212-14-16  Dock  Street 

FERTILIZERS. 

Baugh   &  Sons  Co 20  South  Delaware  Avenue 

FLORISTS'  SUPPLIES. 

H.  Bayersdorfer  &  Co 56  North  Fourth  Street 

FLOWERS,  FANCY  FEATHERS  AND  OSTRICH  FEATHERS. 

J.  &.  L.  Baxter 73i~733  Arch  Street.  . 

J.  T.  Thorn  Co 214  South  Fifth  Street 

FOUNDRY  EQUIPMENT. 
J.  W.  Paxson  Co Pier  45,  North  Delaware  Avenue 

FURNITURE. 
Burt  Bros. 2000-2014  South  Ninth  Street 

GAS  FIXTURES. 

Lawrence  Gas  Fixture  Mfg.  Co N.  E.  cor.  Twelfth  and  Cherry  Streets 

GLASS  AND  CHINA. 

Downs  &  Bean 1035  Market  Street 


List  of  Members  9 

LEADED  GLASS,  GLASS  DECORATORS,  MIRROR  MANUFACTURERS  AND 
DEALERS  IN  GLASS. 

Henry  E.  Sealey  &  Co.,  Inc 230-232  North  Twelfth  Street 

GLAZED  KID. 

S.  Behal  &  Sons 124  North  Fourth  Street 

Keystone  Leather  Co 325  Arch  Street 

GLUE,  CURLED  HAIR  AND  SAND  PAPER. 

Baeder,  Adamson  &  Co 730  Market  Street 

GROCERS. 

Finley  Acker  Co 121   North  Eighth  Street 

Thos.  Martindale  &  Co 941   Market  Street 

HARDWARE. 

T.  James  Fernley 505  Commerce  Street 

Supplee  Hardware  Co 503  Market  Street 

Wm.  P.  Walter's  Sons 1233  Market  Street 

Jas.  M.  Vance  &  Co 211  Market  Street 

HATS  AND  CAPS. 

Frank  P.  Heid  &  Co Thirteenth  and  Wood  Streets 

Eli  Keen's  Sons 62  North  Second  Street 

John    McCardle    331   Market  Street 

Thos.  Rickert  &  Co 61   North  Third  Street 

Frank  Schoble  &  Co Ninth  and  Oxford  Streets 

John  B.  Stetson  Co Fourth  Street  and  Montgomery  Avenue 

Geo.  B.  Wells   Thirteenth  and  Market  Streets 

J.  H.  Welsh  &  Co 826  Arch  Street 

HATS,  LADIES',  MANUFACTURERS. 
H.  A.  Eames 1133-1135  Arch  Street 

HATS,  TRIMMED. 

Apt  &  Co 721  Arch  Street 

J.  P.  Strehle  &  Co 639  Arch  Street 

HEATING  BOILERS  AND  RADIATORS. 

The  H.  B.  Smith  Co 728  Arch  Street 

HOOKS  AND  EYES,  ETC. 
The  DeLong  Hook  &  Eye  Co Broad  and  Wallace  Streets 

HOSIERY. 

Brown-Aberle  Co Palethorp  and  Huntingdon  Streets 

Brown  &  Hunt  Co Mascher  Street  and  Allegheny  Avenue 

S.  B.  Ferguson  &  Co Mutter  Street  and  Lehigh  Avenue 

Stokes,  Cromie  &  Co 235  Chestnut  Street 

Young,  Smyth,  Field  Co 1216-18-20  Arch  Street 

HOTELS. 

Bingham  Hotel    Eleventh  and  Market  Streets 

Hotel  Hanover Twelfth  and  Arch  Streets 

Windsor  Hotel    Filbert  Street,  above  Twelfth 

HOUSE  FURNISHING  GOODS. 
Wm.  Hodges  &  Co 9-11  South  Second  Street 

IMPORTERS  OF  FOREIGN  FRUITS. 

United  Fruit  Co Pier  5,  North  Wharves 


io  List  of  Members 

IMPORTERS  OF  TOYS,  ETC. 
Winters  &  Reinecke 822  Arch  Street 

INJECTORS. 

James  A.  Griffiths    500  North  Twelfth  Street 

IRON  MANUFACTURERS. 
R.  D.  Wood  &  Co 400  Chestnut  Street 

JEWELRY  AND  WATCHES,  WHOLESALE. 

S.  Kind  &  Sons mo  Chestnut  Street 

Koshland  &  Italic  Co 702  Chestnut  Street 

Wm.  C.  Penfold  Co 818-820  Chestnut  Street 

Ritter,  Kahn  &  Co 1315  Market  Street 

H.  O.  Hurlburt  &  Sons 14  South  Tenth  Street 

B.  F.  Williams  Co 726  Chestnut  Street 

M.  Sickles  &  Sons  726  Chestnut  Street 

KNIT  GOODS. 

The  Leicester  and  Continental  Mills  Co., 

Lippincott  Bldg.,  N.  W.  cor.  Twelfth  and  Filbert  Streets 

LACES  AND  FANCY  GOODS. 

Jonas  Bros.  &  Co 1007  Market  Street 

McKinley,  Horn  &  Co 1024     Filbert  Street 

LACE  CURTAINS. 

T.  I.  Birkin  &  Co Chester,  Pa. 

John  Bromley  &  Sons    Lehigh  Avenue,  below  Front 

Joseph  H.  Bromley Lehigh  Avenue  and  Lawrence  Street 

Pollitz,  Kaufman  &  Co 1720  North  Fifth  Street 

LEATHER. 

Burk  Bros 409  Arch  Street 

Cadwallader,  Dougherty  &  Co 327  Arch  Street 

England,  Walton  &  Co.,  Inc 258  North  Third  Street 

Laing,  Sons  &  Harrar 30-32   North  Third  Street 

LEATHER  GOODS. 

C.  F.  Rumpp  &  Sons    Fifth  and  Cherry  Streets 

LINENS,  IMPORTER. 
Jules  Wellens 2137  Howard  Street 

LIQUORS. 

H.  &.  H.  W.  Catherwood 114  South  Front  Street 

Gallagher  &  Burton   1204  Arch  Street 

Huey  &  Christ 1209  Market  Street 

Moore  &  Sinnott 232-234  South  Front  Street 

Angelo  Myers 311-313  North  Third  Street 

LITHOGRAPHING. 

Craig,  Finley  &  Co 147  North  Twelfth  Street 

Ketterlinus  Lithographic  Mfg.  Co N.  W.  cor.  Fourth  and  Arch  Streets 

LUMBER. 
Watson  Malone  &  Sons    Laurel  Street  Wharf 

MANUFACTURERS  OF  MINCEMEAT  AND  PLUM  PUDDING. 
Atmore  &  Son no  Tasker  Street 

MERCANTILE  AGENCY. 
R.  G.  Dun  &  Co 1300  Betz  Building 


List  of  Members  n 

MILLINERY. 

Bowen,  Dungan  &  Co 717  Arch  Street 

A.  H.  Butler  &  Co 706  Arch  Street 

L.  Dannenbaum's  Son  &  Co 806-08-10  Arch  Street 

Kohn,  Adler  &  Co 722-24  Market  Street 

MILITARY  GOODS,  REGALIA,  ETC. 

Wm.  H.  Horstmann  Co.,  Inc Fifth  and  Cherry  Streets. 

NECKWEAR,  MEN'S. 

The  Konzelmann  &  Oliver  Co 1024  Market  Street 

Levy  &  Co.  (Colonial  Cravats) 122-24  South  Eighth  Street 

Thos.  P.  McCutcheon  Bro.,  Inc 621  Market  Street 

NOTIONS. 

W.  Bodek  Co 527  Market  Street 

William  H.  Horstmann  Co.,  Inc Fifth  and  Cherry  Streets 

H.  A.  Lang  &  Co 512  Market  Street 

Sheibley,  Hettrich  &  Tyler 625  Market  Street 

Sullivan  &  Bro 629  Market  Street 

Sullivan  &  Co 421  Market  Street 

T.  H.  Vannemann,  Son  &  Co 525  Market  Street 

Young,  Smyth,  Field  Co 1216-18-20  Arch  Street 

OIL-CLOTH. 

The  Geo.  W.  Blabon  Co 34  North  Fifth  Street 

OILED  CLOTHING. 

A.  R.  Underdo wn   202  Market  Street 

OPTICIAN,  WHOLESALE. 

D.  V.    Brown    738-40  Sansom  Street 

PACKING  BOXES  AND  LUMBER. 
Jos.  T.   Pearson    1825  East  Boston  Avenue 

PAINTS,  ETC. 

The    Barrett- Lin deman    Co 1400  Frankford  Avenue 

Felton,  Sibley  &  Co 136  North  Fourth  Street 

John  Lucas  &  Co 322  Race  Street 

Eugene  E.  Nice 272-74  South  Second  Street 

PANTALOONS. 

Lisberger  &  Wise    335  Market  Street 

PAPER. 

Dill  &  Collins  Co 829  Filbert  Street 

Garrett-Buchanan  Co 18-20  South  Sixth  Street 

C.  S.  Garrett  &  Son  Co 20-22  South  Marshall  Street 

Holten  &  Collins  Co 509  Ludlow  Street 

Thos.  M.  Royal  &  Co 108  South  Sixth  Street 

Philip  Rudolph  &  Son    14-16-18  South  Marshall  Street 

John  Simmons'  Sons   28-30  South  Marshall  Street 

PAPER  BAGS. 

E.  J.  Spangler  Co 507  Ludlow  Street 

PAPER  BOXES,  FOLDING. 
Brown  &  Bailey  Co 410  Franklin  Street 


i2  List  of  Members 

PATENT  MEDICINES. 
Dr.  D.  Jayne  &  Son 242  Chestnut  Street 

PENCILS,  CRUCIBLES,  GRAPHITES,  GREASES,  ETC. 

Joseph  Dixon  Crucible  Co 1020  Arch  Street 

PEARL  NOVELTIES. 
Philadelphia  Pearl  Novelty  Co Twenty-third  and  Arch  Streets 

PHARMACISTS  AND  CHEMISTS,  MANUFACTURING. 

H.   K.   Mulford  Co 412-28  South  Thirteenth  Street 

Henry  K.  Wampole  &  Co 426  Fairmount  Avenue 

PHYSICIANS'  SAMPLE  CASES. 

C.  A.  Dickson N.  E.  cor.  Seventh  and  Market  Street 

PIANO  MAKERS. 
C.  J.  Heppe  &  Son 1117  Chestnut  Street 

PLATE  GLASS. 

Pittsburgh  Plate  Glass  Co N.  E.  cor.  Eleventh  and  Arch  Streets 

PLUMBING,  STEAM  AND  GAS  SUPPLIES. 

Ronalds  &  Johnson  Co 139  North  Seventh  Street 

Walls  &  Pearsall    Eleventh  Street  and  Ridge  Avenue 

POWER  TRANSMITTING  MACHINERY,  ETC. 

Geo.  V.  Cresson  Co Eighteenth  Street  and  Allegheny  Avenue 

PRINTING  AND  ENGRAVING. 

S.  H.  Burbank  &  Co 147   North  Tenth  Street 

Geo.  W.  Gibbons  &  Sons,  Inc 147-149-151   North  Tenth  Street 

Haag  &  Parris 406  Race  Street 

Ware  Bros.  Co 1010  Arch  Street 

PUBLISHING. 

The  Curtis  Publishing  Co 425  Arch  Street 

The  John  C.  Winston  Co 1006-1016  Arch  Street 

PULLEYS,  WROUGHT  STEEL  AND  PRESSED  STEEL  SHAPES. 
American  Pulley  Co Twenty-ninth  and  Bristol  Streets 

QUILTS,  FANCY  GOODS,  ETC. 
R.  Blankenburg  &  Co 617  Chestnut  Street 

REMNANTS  AND  SECONDS  OF  DRY  GOODS. 
W.  C.  Brown   311  Market  Street 

RUBBER  GOODS. 

Montgomery  Bros 48  North  Front  Street 

Quaker  City  Rubber  Co 409  Market  Street 

RUGS. 

John  Bromley  &  Sons Lehigh  Avenue  below  Front  Street 

W.  T.  Smith  &  Son    Third  Street  and  Lehigh  Avenue 

SHIRTS. 

L.  Needles  &  Co 24  and  26  Bank  Street 

W.  M.  Steppacher  &  Bro 146  North  Thirteenth  Street 

Samuel  Sternberger  &  Bro Tenth  and  Filbert  Streets 

Tutelman  Bros.  &  Faggen 60  North  Second  Street 


List  of  Members  13 

SHIRT  WAISTS. 

I.  Brod  &  Co 1020-24  Filbert  Street 

M.  Haber  &  Co 240  Market  Street 

The  Hagedorn-Merz  Co Third  and  Brown  Streets 

M.  Schoenfeld  &  Co.  718  Arch  Street 

David  Stern  &  Co Twelfth  and  Cherry  Streets 

SHOE  MANUFACTURERS'  GOODS. 

W.  A.  Lippincott  &  Co 411  Arch  Street 

SILKS  AND  RIBBONS. 

L.  Dannenbaum's  Son  &  Co 806-10  Arch  Street 

SILK  THREADS. 

The  Brainerd  &  Armstrong  Co 715  Arch  Street 

SKEIN  SILK  DYERS. 

The   Peerless   Co 1845  East  Willard  Street 

SOAP. 

J.  Eavenson  &  Sons,  Inc Delaware  Avenue  and  Penn  Street,  Carnden 

SPORTING  GOODS. 

A.  J.  Reach  Co Tulip  and  Palmer  Streets 

STATIONERS,  PRINTERS  AND  BLANK  BOOK  MAKERS. 

Wm.  H.  Hoskins  Co 904  Chestnut  Street 

William  Mann  Co 529  Market  Street 

R.  C.  Strafford  &  Co 58  North  Thirteenth  Street 

STEAMFITTERS'  SUPPLIES. 
John   Maneely    309  Arch  Street 

STORE  DISPLAY  FIXTURES. 

William    Strauss    416  Arch  Street 

STOVES,  RANGES,  FURNACES. 

Isaac  A.  Sheppard  &  Co 1801  North  Fourth  Street 

STRAW  GOODS. 

Jos.  Potter  &  Son 701  Arch  Street 

SUSPENDERS. 

The  Lockhart-MacBean  Co 1217  Market  Street 

Lewis  Oppenheimer's  Sons 627  Market  Street 

Pioneer  Suspender  Co 718  Market  Street 

TAILORS'  TRIMMINGS. 
Roehm   Bros 1013  Filbert  Street 

TAPES  AND  BINDINGS. 

Geo.   W.   Chapin 229-231  Church  Street 

Krout  &  Fite  Mfg.  Co Allegheny  Avenue  and  Emerald  Street 

TEAS  AND  COFFEES,  WHOLESALE. 

C.  F.  Bonsor  &  Co.,  Inc .'15  and  17  South  Front  Street 

TIN  PLATES  AND  METALS. 

Merchant  &  Evans  Co 517  Arch  Street 

Riter  Bros.  &  Co 1022  Race  Street 


14  Listlof  Members 

TOYS. 
John  A.  Bradley 244  Market  Street 

TRUNKS,  BAGS  AND  SUIT  CASES. 
The  Ward-Pepper  Trunk  and  Bag  Co 2100  Fairmount  Avenue 

TURKISH  TOWELS. 

W.  H.  &.  A.  E.  Margerison  &  Co Emerald  and  Sergeant  Street 

UMBRELLAS  AND  PARASOLS. 

S.  S.  Fretz  Mfg  Co 1015  Diamond  Street 

Hirsh  &  Bro 1307-1 1   Market  Street 

Suplee,  Reeve,  Whiting  Co 823-25  Filbert  Street 

UNDERSKIRTS. 
Paul,  Enochs  &  Co 1 220-28  Cherry  Street 

UNDERWEAR,  LADIES'. 

Kauffman  &  Rubin    715-19  Arch  Street 

UNDERWEAR,  RIBBED. 

Querns  Bros 1914-30  North  Fourth  Street 

Stratford  Knitting  Mills  (Wm.  S.  Lloyd) Wayne  Junction,  Phila. 

Young,  Smyth,  Field  Co 1 2 16-18-20  Arch  Street 

UNIFORMS. 

S.  Abrahams  &  Co Thirteenth  and  Hamilton  Streets 

UPHOLSTERY  GOODS  AND  CURTAINS. 

The  Cross-Eldridge  Co 1215-17  Arch  Street 

Philadelphia  Tapestry  Mills Allegheny  Avenue  and  Front  Street 

Stead,  Miller  &  Co Fourth  and  Cambria  Streets 

Strawbridge  &  Clothier    813  Filbert  Street 

VARNISH  AND  JAPAN. 

Cincinnati  Varnish  Co 142  North  Fourth  Street 

N.  Z.  Graves  Co S.  E.  cor.  Third  and  Arch  Streets 

WAISTS  AND  SUITS,  LADIES'. 
I.  L.  Marks 1015-17  Filbert  Street 

WHITE  METAL  GOODS. 
A.    H.   Wirz    917  Cherry  Street 

WOOD  FINISHING  SUPPLIES. 

Lawrence,  McFadden  &  Elliott 324  North  American  Street 

WOOD  AND  WILLOW  WARE. 
Chas.  W.  Neeld  &  Co 509  Commerce  Street 

WOOLEN  AND  WORSTED  MANUFACTURING. 
The  Southwark  Mills  Co Eighth  and  Tasker  Streets 

WOOLENS. 

Henry  C.  Biddle  &  Co 41   North  Tenth  Street 

John  B.  Ellison  &  Sons   22-24  South  Sixth  Street 

E.  R.  Hawkins  &  Co N.  E.  cor.  Eleventh  and  Arch  Streets 

J.  R.  Keim  &  Co 515-17  Market  Street 

Lippincott,  Johnson  &  Co 1021  Walnut  Street 


Introduction 

HILADELPHIA— the  Nation's  finest  workshop. 

Vast  as  is  the  volume  of  manufacture,  it  is  not  to  this 
alone  that  the  city  owes  its  claim  to  industrial  preeminence. 
Today,  as  in  the  past,  Philadelphia  stands  as  the  foremost 
exponent  of  high  quality  in  production.  The  city's  position 
in  the  manufacture  of  what  may  be  termed  the  greater 
products  is  widely  known.  Few  are  unaware  of  the  fact  that  the 
Delaware  River  is  the  most  important  ship-building  stream  in  the 
country;  though  it  may  not  be  so  generally  known,  that,  next  to  the 
River  Clyde  in  Scotland,  it  is  the  greatest  in  the  world.  Fifteen  thou- 
sand men  are  employed  in  these  shipyards,  and  here  have  been  turned 
out  more  than  one-half  the  nation's  navy.  Both  of  the  opposing  navies 
in  the  Russian-Japanese  war  included  Philadelphia-built  ships. 

Again  it  is  known  that  Philadelphia's  locomotives  are  and  always 
have  been  the  finest  in  their  class  of  production ;  though  the  fact  is  not 
generally  comprehended  that  eight  complete  locomotives  are  turned 
out  from  these  workshops  every  working  day  in  the  year,  and  that 
17,500  men  are  here  employed  in  this  important  branch  of  industry. 
Bridges  of  the  greatest  span  known  are  made  in  the  Philadelphia  shops. 
In  war  material,  both  offensive  and  defensive,  the  product  of  the  city's 
mills  excels;  its  armor  plate  having  stood  the  highest  tests,  its  guns 
meeting  the  most  exacting  requirements,  and  its  armor-piercing  pro- 
jectiles being  known  throughout  the  world.  Many  processes  that  have 
borne  an  important  part  in  the  revolutionizing  of  naval  methods  have 
been  perfected  here.  It  is  known  too,  that  the  foundry  and  machine 
products  of  this  city  are  vast  in  volume  and  unexcelled  in  character, 
and  that  the  refining  interests  in  oil  and  sugar  are  equally  important. 

But  the  diversity  of  the  manufactures  of  the  city,  and  the  high 
grade  of  its  products,  are  not  so  generally  known.  In  all  lines  Phila- 
delphia produces  the  finest,  its  manufactures  standing  inflexibly  for 
quality.  Just  as  its  battleships  and  locomotives  have  stood  the  test 
and  proved  their  worth,  so  its  more  delicate  fabrications  in  scores  of  lines 
have  justly  earned  a  reputation  of  high  character. 

(15) 


1 6  Introduction 

It  is  natural-  that  this  should  be  so,  for  today,  Philadelphia  pos- 
sesses the  best  of  the  country's  labor  markets.  Here  are  to  be  found  in 
many  lines  of  industry,  the  highest  artificing  skill.  It  is  a  fact  well 
known  to  the  manufacturer,  that  skill  at  the  bench,  the  lathe  or  the  loom, 
is  passed  down  from  father  to  son,  every  great  industrial  centre  becoming, 
through  a  process  of  evolution,  a  storehouse  of  skill. 

There  are  in  Philadelphia  many  concerns  whose  business  was  started 
by  the  fathers  and  even  the  grandfathers  of  the  present  members.  This 
has  increased  the  pride  of  the  manufacturers  in  their  industries,  and  in 
the  character  of  their  products.  Philadelphia  manufacturers  are  con- 
stantly striving  to  advance  the  standard,  and  as  a  result,  the  city  is 
preeminent  in  all  branches  of  the  textile  industries,  such  as  yarns,  car- 
pets, and  cloth  of  all  kinds;  in  glazed  kid,  in  linoleums,  in  chemicals, 
drugs,  and  pharmaceutical  preparations,  in  cordage  and  twine,  and  in 
a  wide  array  of  other  industries. 

There  are  upwards  of  three  hundred  lines  of  manufacture  which 
include  16,000  separate  establishments.  The  total  capital  invested  is 
$500,000,000,  the  number  of  wage  earners  275,000  and  the  value  of 
products  $650,000,000  annually. 

Situated  so  close  to  these  vast  and  diversified  industries,  the  Phila- 
delphia wholesale  merchant  is  in  a  peculiarly  favorable  position.  Many 
especially  desirable  goods  may  be  secured  by  the  merchant  who  is  near 
the  mill,  that  rarely  reach  his  competitor  at  a  distance;  and  he  is  also 
constantly  where  he  can  watch  for  opportunity  to  buy  to  the  best  advan- 
tage. Proximity  to  the  mill  means  fresh,  thoroughly  up-to-date  wares. 
A  very  important  consideration,  too,  is  that  the  jobber  who  is  at  the  door 
of  the  mill  knows  to  a  certainty  that  he  can  fill  orders  at  a  moment's 
notice. 

Nowhere,  to  so  great  an  extent,  is  the  knowledge  gained  in  trade 
utilized  in  manufacture. 

The  wholesale  merchant,  in  close  touch  with  the  buying  public,  is 
here,  as  in  no  other  city,  in  position  to  have  his  ideas  incorporated  in 
especially  desirable  lines,  and  virtually  to  oversee  the  making  of  them. 

It  is  doubtful  if  there  is  a  jobbing  centre  which  has  so  few  transient 
buyers,  who  come  to  purchase  once  and  then  go  elsewhere.  It  is  the 
established  axiom  of  Philadelphia  houses:  "Once  a  customer,  always  a 
customer." 


Fashioning  the   Hat 

ROM  earliest  ages,  man  has  held  his  head  covering  in  high 
regard.  Styles  have  changed  thousands  of  times  since  the 
primitive  days  when  the  savage  hunter,  after  killing  his 
prey,  drew  its  skin  over  his  head  for  protection  in  the  next 
encounter.  Yet  through  all  the  mutations  of  time,  with  all 
the  changes,  man  has  reverenced  the  hat. 
There  is  plenty  of  evidence  that  the  hat  has  always  been  an  object 
of  veneration.  Pope  Innocent  IV  made  it  the  symbol  of  the  cardinalate. 
Witness,  too,  the  custom  of  raising  the  hat  in  salute,  and  the  military 
form  of  bringing  the  hand  to  the  cap  in  the  presence  of  a  superior  officer. 
It  is  indicative  of  the  time-honored  regard  for  the  hat  that  the  ancient 
Romans,  when  they  freed  their  slaves,  gave  to  them  caps  as  a  sign  of 
freedom.  Through  all  the  stages  of  evolution,  from  the  reeking  skin 
to  the  finished  style  of  to-day,  the  hat  has  been  regarded  as  one  of  the 
chief est  features  of  man's  attire. 

The  hat  of  fashion  is  a  composite  of  the  products  'of  many  climes. 
The  plainsman  of  the  west  or  of  the  South  African  veldt,  the  fashionable 
promenader  of  the  city,  little  thinks  how  many  corners  of  the  earth  have 
been  searched  to  meet  his  fastidious  taste.  Yet  of  all  the  materials 
that  enter  into  the  perfect  headwear  that  has  given  to  Philadelphia  so 
commanding  a  position  in  the  hat -making  industry,  no  two  are  the  pro- 
duct of  one  country. 

Take,  for  instance,  the  basic  element  of  the  hat — the  fur  of  which 
the  felt  is  made.  Several  varieties  are  used  in  fine  hat -making,  and  all 
are  imported  from  different  countries.  The  fuzzy  beaver  of  our  grand- 
father is  no  more ;  indeed  the  fur  of  the  beaver  has  ceased,  because  of 
its  scarcity  and  its  high  price,  to  be  even  a  considerable  factor  in  the 
making  of  men's  hats.  Clear  beaver  hats  are  made,  but  only  in  limited 
numbers,  there  being  few  who,  such  as  Buffalo  Bill,  care  to  afford  the 
luxury  of  such  headwear. 

To  take  the  place  of  the  beaver,  has  come  the  nutria,  a  little  animal 
of  the  Argentine  Republic  whose  fur  is  in  many  respects  equal  to  that 
of  the  beaver  for  hatting  purposes.  It  is  indicative  of  the  position 


1 8  Fashioning  the  Hat 

which  Philadelphia  has  attained  in  the  making  of  the  finest  hats,  that 
to-day,  its  industry  virtually  monopolizes  the  nutria  output  of  Argen- 
tine— a  single  mammoth  establishment  cutting  fully  80  per  cent,  of  the 
total  export  from  that  country.  But  nutria  is  not  the  only  hatting  fur 


FUR  BLOWING 

Through  these  machines,  the  fur  is  blown  until  all  guard  hairs  are  removed. 

that  comes  from  abroad  to  Philadelphia.  Scotland  furnishes  4,000,000 
coney  skins  annually,  and  Germany  4,000,000  hare  skins.  Beaver,  in 
limited  quantities,  comes  from  Northwestern  United  States,  but  the  fur 
is  so  rare,  that  were  it  not  that  many  of  the  skins  are  so  torn  or  cut  that 
they  are  not  useful  for  women's  garments,  it  would  be  an  impossible 
material  for  hats.  As  with  the  fur,  so  with  the  other  materials  that 
enter  into  the  production.  The  shellac  that  stiffens  the  felt  is  from 
India,  raw  silk  for  the  bands  and  braid  from  Italy,  China  and  Japan, 
the  rubber  for  the  rubber  cement,  used  on  the  sweat -leather,  from 
Brazil,  and  the  goatskins  for  the  sweat  bands,  from  France  and  other 
countries. 

Nowhere,  except  in  Philadelphia,  is  to  be  seen  in  one  establishment 
every  part  of  the  hat -making  industry.     The  initial  process,  the  prepa- 


Fashioning  the  Hat  19 

ration  of  the  fur,  for  instance,  is  rarely  seen  in  a  factory  devoted  to  the 
making  of  hats.  Fur-cutting  is  in  itself  an  important  business,  many 
concerns  applying  themselves  to  it  exclusively.  Here  it  is  but  one 
branch  of  a  many-sided  industry. 

As  the  millions  of  pelts  are  received  annually  from  Europe  and 
South  America,  they  are  placed  in  storage,  for  a  double  reason;  first,  to 
give  the  protection  that  a  large  reserve  stock  always  affords;  second, 
because  age  improves  the  fur..  There  are,  stored  in  these  vast  stock 
rooms,  pelts  that  have  remained  there  for  a  decade,  improving,  as  old 
wine,  with  age. 

As  the  pelt  is  to  be  used,  it  is  first  washed  to  rid  it  of  foreign  matter. 
The  second  process  is  what  is  known  as  carroting.  This  is  the  treatment 
of  the  fur  with  nitrate  of  mercury.  It  is  this  that  gives  to  the  fur  its 


WEAVING  DEPARTMENT 
Here  the  bands  and  the  braids  for  the  hats  are  woven. 


felting  property;  that  quality  which,  in  the  subsequent  stages,  makes 
it  knit  together  into  a  homogeneous  whole,  that  makes  the  fine  texture, 
so  pleasing  to  the  touch,  found  in  the  high-grade  soft  hat. 

After  carroting,  the  furs  are  brushed  by  machinery  to  rid  them  of 


20 


Fashioning  the  Hat 


the  dust  and  other  foreign  substances.  All  such  matter  is  carried  away 
by  blowers  attached  to  the  machines,  so  that  the  fur  comes  away  as 
fluffy  and  clean  as  the  fuzz  of  a  newly  hatched  chick.  There  is,  how- 
ever, one  interesting  intermediate  process.  This  is  the  removal  of  the 


fill 


FELTING  DEPARTMENT 
Over  these  yard  high  cones  the  hat  first  takes  its  shape. 

guard-hairs — the  long,  coarse  hairs  that  cover  the  short,  fine,  soft  coat 
of  so  many  fur-bearers,  such  as  the  seal  and  the  beaver  and  the  nutria. 
The  removal  of  the  greater  part  of  this  is  done  by  a  machine,  one  element 
of  which  is  electrical  apparatus  that  raises  the  guard  hairs  as  straight 
up  from  the  skin  as  the  quills  of  a  porcupine.  Then  the  machine  clutches 
the  raised  hairs,  and  tears  them  away  from  the  softer,  shorter  fur  beneath. 
Subsequent  to  this  comes  a  long  and  intricate  blowing  process  that  re- 
moves the  last  of  these  coarse,  undesirable  hairs. 

When  the  pelts  are  thus  prepared,  they  go  to  the  cutting  depart- 
ment. Here  by  rapidly  revolving  shears,  the  fur  is  stripped  away  as 
cleanly  as  a  barber  removes  a  beard.  As  the  fur  comes  away  from  this 
machine  it  retains  the  shape  of  the  pelt ;  indeed  as  it  lies  on  the  endless 
moving  apron  it  would  be  taken  for  the  pelt  itself.  But  the  denuded 


Fashioning  the  Hat 


21 


skin  lies  beneath  the  cutting  machine,  shredded  so  that  it  is  of  no  value 
except  for  use  in  the  making  of  glue.  After  cutting,  the  fur  is  sorted 
according  to  color  and  quality.  It  passes  through  a  number  of  hands, 
each  selecting  the  fur  from  a  particular  part  of  the  skin,  whether  belly, 
side  or  back  fur.  As  many  of  the  finer  soft  hats  are  natural  color,  it 
is  upon  this  sorting  that  the  final  result  largely  depends.  Following 
this  process  of  selection,  the  fur  is  weighed,  and  the  amount  to  be  used 
in  a  hat  of  a  given  weight  is  placed  in  a  box  by  itself,  when  it  is  ready 
to  go  to  the  forming  department.  It  is  here  that  the  hat  first  takes 
shape — a  crude  shape  to  be  sure,  but  nevertheless  foretelling  the  finished 
product  that  is  to  come. 

A  copper  cone,  fully  a  yard  high,  and  almost  as  large  in  diameter 
at  the  base,  and  looking  like  a  sieve  with  its  hundreds  of  tiny  perfora- 


FINISHING  ROOM 
Skilled  workmen  are  employed  in  this  process  as  the  hat  nears  completion. 

tions,  is  placed  on  a  revolving  table,  within  the  felting  machine.  Then 
the  fur,  previously  weighed  out  to  go  into  a  single  hat,  is  fed  into  the 
machine.  Before  it  reaches  the  revolving  cone,  it  is  caught  up  in  a 
powerful  current  of  air  and  projected  as  individual  and  separate  hairs, 


22  Fashioning  the  Hat 

into  the  felting  chamber.  This  current  is  drawn  by  an  exhaust  fan 
through  the  perforations  of  the  hollow  cone,  but  the  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  hairs  that  it  carries  are  caught  upon  the  damp  outer  side  of  the 
cone,  and  in  a  minute's  time  form  a  complete  covering  of  thin  felt.  When 
the  cone  is  removed  from  the  machine,  and  immersed  in  water  with  its 
coating  of  fur,  this  can  be  stripped  away  and  the  hat  has  taken  its  first 
shape — three  feet  high,  and  nearly  as  great  in  diameter  at  the  base. 
This,  technically,  is  the  hat  cone.  An  automatic  drier  expels  the  water 
from  the  soft  mass  of  felt,  which  is  then  ready  for  the  "sizing-room." 
Here  the  hat  is  shrunk  to  approximately  the  size  of  a  man's  head. 
This  is  done  by  repeated  plunging  in  hot  water,  and  by  manipulation, 
and  can  only  be  done  by  skilled  workmen. 

It  must  now  be  blocked — a  skilled  hand  process.  The  curling  of 
the  edge  of  the  brim  of  the  finer  grades  of  soft  hats  was  one  of  the  features 
that  first  stamped  Philadelphia -made  hats  with  the  hall-mark  of  quality. 
A  brim  may  be  turned  by  iron,  mechanically,  but  it  will  not  hold  its 
shape  as  well  as  when  skillfully  manipulated  by  hand. 

The  shellac  which  sustains  the  stiff  hat  is  applied  by  machinery, 
the  application  being  so  regulated  that  a  greater  quantity  is  in  the  brim 
than  in  the  crown.  Shellacing  is  done  after  the  dyeing  process,  and  when 
the  hat  has  passed  through  these  two  stages,  and  has  been  dried,  it  is 
again  the  clown-shaped  cone,  except  that  it  is  black  and  stiff.  For  the 
subsequent  process  of  forming  the  hat  over  blocks — of  blocking — it 
must  be  repeatedly  immersed  in  hot  water,  and  with  each  immersion 
it  softens  and  becomes  pliable.  Yet  the  shellac  and  the  dye  remain  con- 
stant throughout  this  trying  process.  The  hat  is  now  ready  for  finish- 
ing. It  must  be  put  through  the  process  that  imparts  its  smoothness 
and  its  glossiness.  Placed  upon  a  revolving  table,  it  is  polished  with  a 
very  fine  quality  of  emery  paper. 

Outside  of  Philadelphia  there  is  no  establishment  that  is  complete 
within  itself — that  makes  every  part  of  the  hat.  Here  is  a  complete 
weaving  establishment,  where  the  bands  and  the  braids  and  the  binding 
in  all  the  various  shades,  and  in  the  finest  qualities,  are  made. 

A  high  standard,  especially  in  the  earlier  stages,  and  persistent 
culling  in  every  department,  means  the  turning  out  of  finished  product 
that  represents  the  acme  of  hat -making  skill. 

There  are  no  cheap  hats  made  in  Philadelphia  factories;  there  are 
not  such  fine  hats  made  elsewhere.  The  Philadelphia  jobber  is  compelled 
to  go  to  other  manufacturing  centres  for  his  low  grades,  while  all  the 
world  that  wants  the  finest,  comes  to  Philadelphia  to  be  supplied. 


Raising  an  Umbrella 

F  you  will  raise  and  lower  a  high-grade  umbrella,  and  note 
the  perfect  freedom  of  movement,  the  staunchness  of  the 
frame,  the  snugness  with  which  all  the  parts  fold  together; 
and  if  you  will  then  follow  the  process  of  umbrella -making, 
you  will  perhaps  marvel  at  the  lightning  rapidity  with  which 
this  smooth-running  cloth-covered  piece  of  mechanism  is 
turned  out.  A  coil  of  steel  wire  is  rolled  from  a  freight  car  into  the  stock 
room  at  one  end  of  a  modern  umbrella  factory,  while  at  the  other  end 
enters  raw  silk— an  unshaped  mass  of  fibre.  Through  intricate  processes, 
these  two  approach  each  other  until  at  the  last  stage  they  come  together 
and  in  a  twinkling  become  a  finished  umbrella. 

Manifold  as  are  the  courses  through  which  the  raw  stock  must  pass 
before  it  becomes  the  fabricated  product,  yet  the  process  is  very  simple. 
Take  first  the  cover.  As  the  raw  silk  enters  it  is  tested  for  quality.  Then 
it  must  be  dyed,  the  sombre  black  for  umbrellas,  and  the  multitude  of 
shades  for  parasols.  The  making  of  the  warp,  and  the  weaving  is  the 
same  as  in  any  silk-making  process,  except  that  the  material  for  umbrellas 
is  woven  a  special  width.  But  the  woven  silk  must  now  go  through  a 
number  of  special  processes  to  make  it  suitable  for  umbrella  purposes — 
that  is  to  make  it  impervious  to  rain.  As  it  passes  through  machines 
specially  made  for  the  preparation  of  umbrella  covering,  it  is  brushed 
by  rotary  steel  brushes  which  spread  the  fibre  in  order  to  make  it  more 
dense.  In  the  first  machine  these  brushes  spread  the  fibre  from  the 
middle  of  the  silk  outward,  in  the  next  from  the  edges  inward,  and  in 
the  last  from  end  to  end.  This  somewhat  resembles  the  felting  process, 
to  which  woolen  fabrics  are  more  or  less  subjected,  the  tiny  holes  in  the 
silk  being  closed  up  by  this  spreading  of  the  fibre. 

After  this  process  the  silk  must  be  gone  over  by  hand,  as  there  will 
still  be  little  holes  in  the  material  through  which  rain  might  percolate. 
So  an  operator,  sitting  with  the  silk  hung  between  herself  and  a  strong 
light,  so  that  she  may  detect  any  openings,  closes  them  by  scratching 
them  with  a  steel  needle.  Now  the  silk  is  ready  to  be  cut  into  umbrella 
covers  and  goes  to  the  cutting  department.  The  seven  sections  of  the 


24  Raising  an  Umbrella 

cover  are  of  course  alike,  and  are  rapidly  cut  by  hand,  the  cutter  using  a 
triangular  shaped  pattern.  The  edges  must  now  be  hemmed  and  the 
covers  sewed.  Then  the  little  eyelets  which  are  used  in  the  fastening 
of  the  umbrella  are  stamped  in. 

While  the  covering  has  been  going  through  this  process,  the  frame 
has  been  shaped  in  another  department.     The  round  wire  is  first  drawn 


WEAVING  THE  UMBRELLA  SILK 
Umbrella  and  parasol  silk  must  be  woven  of  special  width. 


between  rolls  until  it  is  flat.  Then  it  passes  between  finishing  rolls  which 
bring  it  to  the  required  width  and  thickness  without  the  deviation  of  the 
thousandth  part  of  an  inch.  It  is  necessary  that  there  should  be  this 
accuracy  or  in  the  subsequent  rapid  process  the  high  grade  of  frames 
and  the  smooth  running  of  the  parts  could  not  be  attained.  This  ribbon 
of  steel  must  now  be  tempered  and  must  pass  through  an  annealing  and 
tempering  process,  after  which  it  is  impossible  to  break  it  by  bending  it 
in  the  hands.  It  may  be  crushed  under  great  strain,  but  will  not  break. 
The  metal  now  passes  into  a  machine  which  curves  it  into  the  trough 
shape  of  the  umbrella  rib,  fashions  the  ends  and  cuts  off  the  required 
length  for  a  rib  all  at  one  operation.  Another  machine  makes  the  tiny 
balls  that  go  on  the  ends  of  the  ribs. 


Raising  an  Umbrella  25 

If  the  frame  of  an  umbrella,  commonly  termed  "the  ribs"  is  examined 
carefully,  it  will  be  noted  that  there  are  five  parts.  There  is  first  the 
long  rib  which  extends  from  the  top  to  the  outer  edge  of  the  umbrella 
cover;  there  are  the  stretchers  which  extend  from  these  ribs  inward  to 
the  handle  connecting  with  what  is  known  as  the  "runner;"  and  there 
are  the  connection  joints,  technically  termed  "the  lap  connection"  which 
hold  the  stretcher  to  the  rib.  Now  in  the  best  frame  the  stretcher, 
when  the  umbrella  is  closed,  should  lie  completely  within  the  trough  of 
the  rib,  thus  making  a  closer  fold.  To  manufacture  a  frame  in  which 
this  is  achieved,  and  in  which  there  are  also  the  elements  of  strength 
and  freedom  of  movement,  has  been  the  effort  of  the  umbrella  maker. 

Perhaps  no  point  in  the  making  of  the  umbrella  has  called  for  greater 
ingenuity  than  the  connection  of  the  rib  to  the  stretcher.  In  the  best 
process  no  metal  at  all  is  cut  out  of  the  lap  to  give  place  to  the  little  pivot 
which  must  hold  the  stretcher;  but  instead  a  machine  has  been  devised 


RAIN-PROOFING  THE  MATERIAL 
These  machines,  with  their  rotary  steel  brushes,  spread  the  fibre. 

by  which  the  metal  is  merely  pushed  outward.  Then  the  pivot  is  in- 
serted and  finally  the  ragged  metal  that  has  been  pushed  outward  is 
hammered  back  in  place.  This  means,  therefore,  no  appreciable  weaken- 
ing of  the  rib. 


26  Raising  an  Umbrella 

Yet  while  all  these  improvements  have  been  going  forward,  the 
number  of  processes  has  been  reduced.  The  old  style  rib  required 
twelve  different  processes ;  the  new  rib  but  three.  One  of  these  machines 
operates  with  such  rapidity  that  it  can  do  its  special  branch  of  work  on 
twelve  umbrellas  a  minute.  As  there  are  seven  ribs  to  the  umbrella 
this  is  faster  than  one  rib  a  second. 

Next  the  ribs  and  stretchers  are  taken  to  the  japanning  room.  Here 
they  receive  their  coat  of  black,  and  here  also,  after  being  dipped  in  oil, 
are  placed  in  ovens,  remaining  there  for  two  hours.  From  here  they 
travel  to  the  frame-making  room  where  they  are  bound  together  at  the 
top  of  the  rod  with  aluminum  coated  wire.  The  headings  and  runners 
for  the  rods  are  now  gathered  together,  and  the  frame  is  completed. 
Now  it  goes  to  the  assembling  room  where  it  is  to  be  covered.  Here  in  a 
twinkling  the  covers  are  sewed  on  the  frames  by  hand.  A  corps  of 
inspectors  are  in  waiting  to  examine  the  umbrella  for  any  defect  in  the 
making. 

Finally  the  umbrellas  are  taken  to  an  adjoining  room,  where  the 
handles  are  attached.  In  no  department  is  greater  care  shown  than  in 
this.  These  handles  do  not  come  to  the  large  factories  completed,  but 
in  parts.  For  instance,  there  will  be  a  wooden  section  and  a  silver  top, 
or  there  will  be  filigree  work  in  which  the  silver  must  be  attached  to  the 
wood.  These  parts  are  assembled  by  expert  workmen,  being  glued 
together  with  jewelers'  cement.  Hundreds  upon  hundreds  of  styles  of 
handles  are  shown  by  the  large  umbrella  factories  and  it  is  in  range  of 
designs  as  well  as  in  the  quality  of  workmanship  throughout  that  the 
production  of  the  Philadelphia  establishments  excels. 

Philadelphia  was  the  birth-place  of  the  umbrella  industry  in  the 
United  States,  and  here  to-day  is  the  only  factory  where  every  part  of 
the  process  of  umbrella  making  may  be  seen.  From  the  city's  factories 
in  this  line  are  turned  out  the  very  finest  in  umbrella  and  parasol  pro- 
duction. Many  of  these  various  processes  require  special  machinery 
and  it  is  indicative  of  the  position  of  Philadelphia  in  this  brach  of  manu- 
facture that  a  number  of  the  best  of  these  machines  have  been  invented 
here  and  indeed  have  been  made  in  the  factory  machine  shops.  The 
umbrella  requirements  of  the  United  States  are  40,000  a  day,  or  nearly 
15,000,000  a  year.  The  capacity  of  the  Philadelphia  factories  is  one- 
third  that  number,  and  more  umbrellas  are  turned  out  here  than  from 
the  shops  of  any  other  city.  The  high  skill  of  the  Philadelphia  work- 
man and  efficient  organization  mean  the  utmost  economy  of  production. 


The  Manufacture  of  Worsted  Yarns 


AVE  you  ever  examined  closely  a  strand  of  worsted  yarn? 
Have  you  observed  how  soft  it  is,  its  even  thread,  and  its 
great  strength  compared  to  its  airy  lightness?  Then  see 
if  you  can  trace  the  evolution  of  this  magical  condition,  from 
the  crude  wool  you've  seen  shorn  from  a  sheep's  back. 

Yarn  spinning  has  been  one  of  the  employments  of  man- 
kind since  primeval  times,  and  the  simple  devices  which  were  used  by 
the  ancients  continued  to  be  the  spinning  implements  of  civilized  com- 
munities until  times  that  are  astonishingly  recent.  It  was  not  until 
the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  that  human  ingenuity  turned  its 
attention  to  improving  the  methods  of  spinning,  but  since  then  efforts 
have  been  put  forth  incessantly.  As  a  result,  there  has  not  been  devel- 
oped in  the  whole  range  of  mechanical  industries,  more  complex  or 
delicate  machinery  than  is  used  in  the  making  of  worsted  yarns. 

From  its  early  history,  Philadelphia  has  held  a  commanding  position 
in  the  manufacture  of  worsted  yarns;  indeed  it  is  natural  that  so  im- 
portant a  centre  for  all  kinds  of  textiles  should  excel  in  this  basic  process. 
To-day,  remarkable  as  the  statement  may  seem,  Philadelphia  has  over- 
taken even  Bradford,  England,  in  the  race  for  supremacy  in  this  industry, 
and  has  been  justly  termed  the  "Worstedopolis"  of  the  world.  All 
classes  of  yarns  are  manufactured  here — those  for  cloth,  carpets,  under- 
wear, etc.,  and  also  the  different  styles  of  yarns  used  in  hand-knitting 
and  crocheting,  such  as  Knitting  Worsted,  Saxony,  Shetland  Floss, 
Spanish  Worsted,  Germantown  Zephyr,  Ice  Wool,  etc. 

Yarns  for  manufacturing  purposes  are  classed  together  as  "bulk" 
yarns;  those  for  hand-knitting  and  crocheting  are  styled  "bundle" 
yarns.  Hand  knit  and  crocheted  garments  have  been  in  high  fashion 
for  some  time  past  and  the  art  of  knitting  and  crocheting,  therefore, 
continues  its  great  popularity.  It  is  generally  recognized  that  only  the 
best  yarns  should  be  used  for  this  purpose,  and  it  is  in  "bundle"  yarns, 
as  well  as  in  "manufacturing"  yarns  that  Philadelphia  has  always 
excelled.  There  is  in  Philadelphia  a  single  mill  making  a  specialty  of 
"bundle"  yarns,  which  turns  out  more  of  this  class  of  product  than  all 


a8  The  Manufacture  of  Worsted  Yarns 

other  American  mills  combined.  It  is  in  such  a  mill  that  the  modern 
processes  of  yarn  manufacture,  with  its  intricate  operations,  may  best  be 
studied — from  the  time  the  raw  wool  enters,  until  it  leaves  in  the  form 
of  beautifully  colored  yarns. 

To  the  sorter,  into  whose  hands  the  fleece  first  passes  when  it  reaches 


THE  COMBING  DEPARTMENT 
The  combs  remove  the  short  fibres  so  that  the  yarn  may  be  strong  and  uniform. 


the  mill,  falls  one  of  the  most  delicate  and  responsible  tasks  in  the  manu- 
facture of  worsted  yarns.  Keenness  of  eye,  precision  of  touch,  judgment 
as  to  the  relative  values  of  wools  imported  from  various  countries,  or 
procured  from  our  own  states  and  territories — all  this  is  part  of  the 
equipment  of  an  experienced  sorter.  He  reckons  with  the  forces  of 
nature,  knowing  that  the  steady  glare  of  the  Australian  sun,  or  the  damp 
raw  winds  and  rains  of  the  American  plains,  produce  changes  in  the 
wool  while  it  is  still  on  the  back  of  the  sheep.  The  average  fleece  is 
divided  into  about  ten  different  sorts,  or  grades.  These  are  placed  in 
separate  baskets  and  are  not  permitted 'to  mix. 


The  Manufacture  of  Worsted  Yarns  29 

From  the  sorting  room  the  wool  is  sent  through  a  chute  to  the 
scouring  department,  each  grade  being  scoured  separately.  First, 
however,  it  goes  into  a  feeder  which  contains  apparatus  to  open  it  out 
before  it  goes  directly  into  the  scouring  liquor.  The  scouring  machine 
consists  of  three  long  troughs  where  steel  fingers  seize  the  greasy  material 
and  draw  it  along,  repeatedly  immersing  it  in  the  scouring  solution. 
The  first  bowl  contains  a  solution  of  soap,  caustic  soda  and  water,  the 
second  a  milder  mixture,  and  the  third  only  lukewarm  water,  where 
the  wool  is  thoroughly  rinsed. 


SPINNING  FRAMES 

These  machines  transform  the  product  into  yarn — some  soft  and  lofty,  others  flat 
and  wiry — according  to  the  purpose  for  which  they  are  to  be  used. 

The  wool  is  then  taken  up  and  carried  on  an  automatic  apron 
through  another  opener  and  passes  into  the  drying  machine,  through 
which  it  travels  on  a  slowly  moving  wire  apron.  Various  blasts  of  air 
meet  the  wet  material;  the  first  hot,  the  second  somewhat  milder,  the 


30  The  Manufacture  of  Worsted  Yarns 

last  cold.  By  the  time  the  wool  has  passed  through  this  machine  it  has 
become  free  of  all  moisture.  A  very  important  factor  in  this  process  is 
the  soap,  which  must  be  absolutely  pure,  as,  should  impure  grades  be 
used,  the  wool  is  liable  to  become  harsh  and  brittle.  So  great  is  the  care 


THE  REELING  ROOM 

The  reel  in  the  foreground  is  making  small  regular  skeins,  some  yarn   for  hand 
knitting  or  crocheting. 


that  must  be  taken,  that  many  manufacturers  have  their   own    soap- 
making  plants  so  as  to  be  sure  to  obtain  the  quality  desired. 

From  the  drying  machine  the  wool  drops  into  a  pan,  whence  it  is 
conveyed  through  pneumatic  tubes  directly  to  the  carding  machines. 
In  the  carding  process  it  is  properly  opened.  These  machines  consist 
of  series  of  cylinders  bound  with  wire  clothing  made  of  needles  set 
closely  together.  As  the  wool  passes  through  the  cards,  it  is  licked  from 
one  cylinder  to  the  other,  the  needles  picking  the  fibres  apart  and  at  the 
same  time  throwing  off  any  waste  material  such  as  burrs.  It  emerges 


The  Manufacture  of  Worsted  Yarns  31 

from  the  last  of  the  needle-covered  rollers  in  a  smooth,  fine  stream  with 
all  the  fibres  nicely  drawn  out  lengthwise. 

The  wool  then  goes  through  the  combing  machine,  which  consists 
of  double  circles  of  steel  pins.  It  is  drawn  through  these  pins  as  through 
a  comb,  whence  the  name  of  the  process  is  derived.  In  this  process  the 
noil,  or  short  fibre,  is  removed,  while  the  long  fibres  are  drawn  out 
smooth  and  even  into  a  strand  about  two  inches  thick,  technically  termed 
"top."  The  short  fibre  which  this  machine  discards  is  not  suitable  for 
worsted  yarns,  but  is  sold  to  be  used  for  other  purposes. 


THE  DYEING  DEPARTMENT. 

Here  the  raw  yarn  is  dyed  into  all  colors — from  the  deep  rich  shades,  to  the  most 
delicate  of  tints. 


In  the  drawing  process,  the  wool  is  gradually  drawn  out  finer  and 
finer  until  the  strand  is  from  one-eighth  to  one-half  inch  thick.  It  is 
made  into  different  thicknesses  according  to  the  purpose  for  which  the 
yarn  is  to  be  used.  Thus  drawn  it  is  termed  "roving." 


3«          '•    The  Manufacture  of  Worsted  Yarns 

Now  it  is  ready  to  be  spun  into  yarn.  The  spinning  frames  are  long 
machines,  upon  which  are  set  hundreds  of  spindles  which  revolve  fe 
extremely  high  speed..  As  the  spindles  revolve  the  yarn  is  drawn  out 
to  the  desired  fineness  and  is  given  the  required  twist.  The  purpose 
for  which  the  yarn  is  to  be  used  determines  the  exact  amount  of  twist 
to  be  put  into  it — certain  uses  demand  tight,  highly  twisted  yarns, 
while  others  require  soft,  lofty  yarns.  Watchful  eyes  are  constantly 
engaged  in  seeing  that  the  yarn  is  running  perfectly  smooth  and 
uniform. 

From  the  spinning  room  the  yarn  is  taken  to  the  twisting  depart- 
ment, where  it  is  made  into  two,  three,  four,  or  whatever  fold  may  be 
desired. 

The  yarn  is  then  reeled  into  skeins  according  to  requirements — 
those  for  manufacturing  purposes  into  large  hanks,  and  those  for  hand 
knitting  and  crocheting  into  small  uniform  skeins.  After  the  yarn  is 
reeled  it  is  taken  into  the  examining  department,  where  girls  look  over 
the  product  carefully  in  order  to  cull  any  that  may  show  the  slightest 
defect. 

The  dyeing  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  processes.  After  the 
yarn  is  thoroughly  scoured,  it  is  put  on  sticks,  and  on  these  goes  into  the 
dye  vats.  At  each  side  of  the  vats  stand  men  who  keep  the  poles  moving 
to  and  fro  constantly,  in  order  that  the  yarn  may  be  thoroughly  per- 
meated with  the  dye.  After  it  has  attained  the  desired  shade,  it  is 
carefully  rinsed  and  taken  to  the  drying-room.  Here  it  is  put  on  long 
poles  and  left  until  thoroughly  dry. 

Crocheters  and  knitters  demand  yarns  of  many  delicate  shades 
and  tints,  and  to  satisfy  these  tastes  is  one  of  the  exactions  placed  upon 
the  manufacturer  of  "bundle"  yarns.  The  greatest  care  must  be  taken 
with  the  colors  to  see  that  they  are  always  uniform.  The  formulas 
for  this  kind  of  work  must  be  exact,  and  no  deviation  from  them  can  be 
permitted.  Temperature  and  weather  play  an  important  part  in  the 
working  out  of  results,  as  do  also  the  kind  and  quality  of  the  chemicals — 
and  the  dyer  must  consider  every  circumstance  or  condition  that  would 
tend  to  alter  the  result  for  which  he  is  striving. 

After  the  yarn  is  dyed,  scoured  and  thoroughly  dried,  it  is  taken  to 
the  putting-up  department.  The  yarns  for  manufacturing  purposes  are 
put  into  large  bundles  or  bales,  while  the  knitting  and  crocheting  yarns 
are  put  up  in  small  boxes  so  that  they  may  be  kept  clean  in  shipping 
and  while  lying  on  the  dealers'  shelves  awaiting  the  pleasure  of  the 
consumer. 


How  Piece  Goods  Are  Made 

EXTILES  are  the  foundation  of  the  Philadelphia  industrial 
structure.  Important  as  are  the  shipyards  of  the  city,  its 
locomotive  shops  and  its  various  mills  'which  turn  out  the 
greater  iron  and  steel  products,  yet  its  looms  and  the  var- 
ious processes  in  the  manufacture  of  textile  fabrics  give 
employment  to  by  far  the  greater  number  of  workmen  and 
operatives.  Virtually  all  classes  and  grades  of  worsted  and  woolen 
fabrics  are  made  in  the  multitude  of  mills.  Carpets  constitute  the  great 
volume  of  manufacture,  yet  the  finest  in  women's  wear  and  in  men's 
suitings,  and  the  greatest  range  of  specialities,  are  covered  by  the  Phila- 
delphia mills  in  this  field.  Ninety rthree  mills  turn  out  woolen  goods 
of  the  value  of  $19,000,000  annually,  and  thirty -six  that  are  devoted  to 
worsted  piece  goods  turn  out  product,  of  the  value  of  $16,500,000  an- 
nually. There  are  here  the  largest  mills,  outside  of  the  trust,  devoted  to 
the  manufacture  of  high  grade  worsted  and  woolens.  There  are  mills 
which  run  exclusively  on  women's  dress  goods,  whose  product  is  unequal- 
led in  this  country.  Many  specialities  that  have  taken  their  permanent 
place  in  favor  originated  in  Philadelphia.  Mills  devoted  to  men's  wear 
make  product  which  is  not  excelled  in  that  line. 

Each  class  of  goods  has  its  own  individual  treatment,  and  this  begins 
with  the  selection  of  the  wool  and  is  carried  through  to  the  finishing.  For 
this  reason  we  see  in  the  sorting  room  of  one  of  these  vast  mills  wools 
from  all  corners  of  the  globe.  There  are  the  fleeces  of  sheep  ranging  the 
plains  of  the  states  and  territories  of  our  own  country  as  well  as  those 
of  South  America;  there  is  the  long  staple  Irish  wool,  Australian  and 
Icelandic. 

While  each  grade  of  goods  has  its  own  biography,  yet  the  general 
process  of  spinning  and  weaving  is  common  to  all.  Through  the  scouring 
and  the  carding  they  take  the  same  course.  There  are  two  processes  of 
spinning  worsted  yarns,  the  English  or  Bradford  system  and  the  French, 
each  being  best  suited  to  the  manufacture  of  certain  classes  of  goods.  The 
softness  that  is  found  in  much  of  the  material  made,  for  instance,  for 
women's  wear,  is  attained  by  the  use  of  yarn  spun  by  the  French  system. 
3  (33) 


34  How  Piece  Goods  Are  Made 

In  the  Bradford  system  the  yarn  is  of  longer  fibre,  while  in  the 
French  it  is  drawn  straight,  although  of  shorter  wool,  which  gives  it  a 
softer  "feel."  In  this  latter  process  it  would  be  absolutely  impossible 
to  work  the  wool  in  a  clear,  dry  atmosphere,  as  it  would  pull  apart.  A 


DRAWING  IN  THE  WARP 

Before  the  weaving  the  threads  must  be  drawn  throtfgh  the  eyes  in  the  harness 

frame. 

device  known  as  the  humidifier  is  employed  to  overcome  this  difficulty. 
This  throws  out  water  in  atomized  form,  keeping  the  air  constantly  moist. 

Two  kinds  of  yarn  are  used  in  weaving  cloth.  One,  the  warp,  ex- 
tends from  end  to  end  of  the  fabric;  the  other,  the  filling,  interlaces  at 
right  angles  with  the  warp.  Being  put  to  more  strain  and  friction  than 
the  filling,  the  warp  is  twisted  more. 

After  the  yarn  is  taken  from  the  spinning  machines  on  spindles,  it  is 
first  spooled,  and  then  comes  the  warping  process.  In  this  the  yarn  is 
run  upon  great  beams,  so  that,  when  placed  upon  the  loom,  it  unwinds  in 
the  form  of  a  wide  continuous  sheet,  which  needs  only  the  interlocking 
filling  to  make  a  fabric. 

Before  the  weaving  process  the  warp  threads  are  drawn  through  a 
harness.  It  is  this  harness  which  governs  the  number  of  threads  which 


How  Piece  Goods  Are  >lade  35 

are  to  be  up,  and  the  number  which  are  to  be  down,  when  the  shuttle, 
which  carries  the  filling,  passes  between  them.  Variations  in  patterns 
are  obtained  by  regulating  the  number  of  warp  threads  that  shall  be  up 
or  down,  and  adjusting  the  various  harness  so  that  they  will  be  up  or 
down,  at  the  right  moment.  This  automatic  raising  and  lowering  of  the 
harness  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  features  of  the  modern  loom. 

When  the  material  is  woven  it  must  still  pass  through  many  processes 
before  it  is  ready  for  the  market.  There  is  the  crabbing  process  to  take 
out  the  wrinkles  and  bring  the  material  smooth  and  straight.  It  must  be 
washed,  must  go  through  the  napping  and  fulling  machines, must  be  dyed, 
dried  and  pressed,  and  finally  steamed  to  give  it  lustre.  One  of  the 
interesting  processes  which  follows  the  weaving  is  the  felting  process  to 
which  all  woolen  fabrics  are  more  or  less  subjected.  If  a  fibre  of  wool 


SHEARING  AND  SINGEING  .MACHINES 
As  the  piece  goods  pass  through  these  machines,  the  loose  fibre  is  removed. 

is  examined  under  the  microscope,  it  is  seen  that  it  is  covered  with  fine 
teeth  like  those  of  a  saw.  These  act  like  small  barbs,  interlocking  with 
each  other,  and  it  is  this  which  gives  to  the  wool  its  felting  property. 
The  derby  hat  is  an  illustration  of  pure  felt,  the  wool  not  being  woven  at 


36  How  Piece  Goods  Are  >lade 

all,  but  the  fibres  being  compressed  until  they  form  a  fabric.  Fine 
worsteds  are  woven  and  slightly  felted,  while  broadcloth  is  both  woven 
and  felted.  A  piece  of  muslin  is  woven  only.  You  can  see  through  the 
cotton — you  cannot  see  through  the  hat  or  broadcloth,  In  the  felting 
machine,  the  fabric  is  pounded  until  it  is  felted  to  the  desired  extent. 

There  is  a  striking  process  which  is  used  in  the  making  of  some 
worsted  and  woolen  fabrics  to  remove  any  vegetable  matter  that  may 
still  be  in  the  piece.  This  is  known  as  the  carbonizing  process.  The 
piece  first  passes  at  a  rapid  rate  through  a  solution  of  vitriol.  If  there 
were  in  the  fabric  any  cotton  threads  these  would  be  eaten  out  in  this 
bath.  From  this  plunge  in  vitriol  the  piece  passes  through  a  high 
degree  of  heat  which  chars  all  vegetable  matter. 

Last  comes  the  dyeing  and  the  finishing.  It  would  seem  to  the 
uninitiated  to  be  an  impossibility  to  place  a  piece  of  goods  in  a  dyeing 
tub  and  to  have  it  come  out  with  part  of  the  fabric  dyed  and  the  other 
part  undyed.  Yet  this  is  exactly  what  the  manufacturer  attains  by  a 
very  simple  process.  If  he  desires  a  thread  of  red  to  run  through  goods 
which  are  to  be  dyed  in  the  piece,  he  merely  introduces  into  the  piece,  in 
the  weaving  process,  a  thread  of  red  cotton.  Now,  wool  will  rob  cotton 
of  dye.  When  this  piece  of  goods  is  placed  in  the  dyeing  vat  the  wool 
takes  the  dye,  the  cotton  does  not.  Cotton  is  vegetable  and  hard  to 
penetrate.  Wool  is  animal,  porous,  and  will  absorb  dye. 

No  two  kinds  of  material  are  treated  alike  in  the  finishing  process. 
Serges,  for  instance,  must  go  through  machines  to  remove  all  the  loose  wool 
that  raises  above  the  surface.  There  are  two  methods  of  making  this 
smooth  finish.  In  one,  the  serge  is  sheared  by  passing  over  knives  some- 
what like  those  of  a  lawn-mower,  which  revolve  at  extremely  high  speed. 
In  the  other  it  is  passed  at  lightning  speed  through  a  flame  which  singes 
the  loose  wool  but  which  leaves  the  fabric  uninjured. 

The  process  of  finishing  broadcloths  is  very  long  and  involves  much 
hand  labor.  The  nap  must  be  sheared  to  bring  it  to  the  required  length ;  it 
must  be  brushed  so  that  the  nap  may  all  lie  in  one  direction,  and  it  must  go 
slowly  over  rollers  under  steam  in  order  to  obtain  the  desired  lustre.  This 
means,  in  the  finest  of  the  broadcloths,  a  process  that  extends  through 
weeks.  It  is  first  of  all  the  fineness  of  material  selected,  and  then  the 
care  with  which  this  finishing  process  is  conducted,  which  make  broad- 
cloth quality ;  and  it  is  the  high  standard  in  these  two  matters  set  by  the 
Philadelphia  manufacturers  of  broadcloth  which  has  made  the  product 
of  this  city  the  acme  of  quality  in  this  branch  of  the  textile  industry. 


Building  a  Suit  of  Clothes 

HY  is  Philadelphia  clothing  better,  more  satisfactory  to  dealer 

and  wearer  than  that  made  in  other  manufacturing  centres? 

For  three  simple  and  obvious  reasons,  which  do  not  all  three 

apply  to  the  product  of  any  other  city. 

First  and  foremost  is  the  fact  that  here,  clothing  is  made 

under  the  most  sanitary  surroundings.  The  work  is  done 
in  healthful  workshops  by  operatives  who,  being  well  paid,  are  as  a  class 
more  healthy  and  cleanly  than  they  would  be  were  they  illy -paid.  Sec- 
ond, Philadelphia  makes  the  finest  fabrics  for  the  manufacture  of  men's 
clothing.  The  clothing  manufacturer  has  a  strong  position  in  his  prox- 
imity to  the  mills  that  turn  out  piece  goods.  Third,  and  perhaps  most 
important  in  its  bearing  upon  clothes-quality,  is  the  fact  that  the  Phila- 
delphia manufacturer  is  in  the  atmosphere  of  the  best  style.  Indeed, 
it  has  become  so  well-known  as  not  to  need  argument,  that  Phila- 
delphia is  a  well-dressed  city — a  city  of  right  styles. 

The  Philadelphia  maker  of  clothing,  then,  has  a  strong  and  unique 
position  in  his  branch  of  the  city's  many-sided  industry.  Here  it  is  not 
a  branch  that  is  of  recent  growth.  Shortly  after  1820,  when  the  clothing 
factory  industry  began  in  the  United  States,  Philadelphia  had  several 
establishments  in  operation.  In  1860  Philadelphia  production  in  this 
line  was  approximately  equal  to  that  of  all  New  England.  To-day  the 
factory  output  of  men's  clothing  reaches  an  annual  value  of  upwards 
of  $20,000,000.  Not  content  with  keeping  abreast  with  competitors, 
the  Philadelphia  manufacturer  in  this  line  has  led  the  way  in  the 
introduction  of  new  devices  that  mean  economy  of  production,  and  has, 
therefore,  been  able  to  place  his  goods  on  the  market  at  the  very  lowest 
cost  consistent  with  quality. 

In  a  modern,  up-to-date  clothing  factory,  expense  in  production  is, 
first  of  all,  saved  by  a  systematic  laying  out  of  departments  so  that  the 
goods  may  take  a  natural  progress  through  the  establishment,  from  the 
time  they  enter  as  piece  goods  until  they  leave  in  cases  as  finished  pro- 
duct. But  more  than  this,  economy  comes  in  the  lightning-like  rapidity 

(37) 


38  Building  a  Suit  of  Clothes 

of  process,  a  rapidity  that  is  all  the  more  remarkable  when  the  finished 
garment  is  seen,  perfect  in  all  its  details. 

Piece  goods,  as  they  are  received,  first  pass  under  the  scrutiny  of 
the  inspector.     Then  comes  the  first  process  in  clothing  manufacture, 


DRYING  WOOLENS  AFTER  SHRINKING 
Thousands  of  yards  are  hung  up  in  this  chamber  before  going  to  the  cutting  tables. 

and  one  upon  which  largely  depends  the  finished  result.  This  is  the 
shrinking  process.  There  are  two  places  that  the  garment  can  shrink, 
first,  when  it  is  under  the  iron,  and  second,  when  it  is  on  the  back  of 
the  wearer.  It  is  to  overcome  shrinkage  at  either  time  that  care  must 
be  taken  in  this  early  process.  It  is  obvious  that  if  the  best  results  are 
to  be  attained,  the  garment  should  come  out,  in  its  finished  state,  pre- 
cisely the  size  of  the  pattern  made  by  the  designer.  That  this  may  be 
achieved,  it  is  necessary,  first  of  all,  and  before  the  goods  are  cut,  that 
they  be  shrunk  as  much  as  it  is  possible  to  shrink  them.  Then  the  piece 
will  keep  its  place  when  the  tailor  takes  it  in  hand,  and  will  not  shrink 
still  more  to  become,  in  size,  smaller  than  the  designed  pattern.  The 
ordinary  fulling  process  of  the  textile  mill  is  not  sufficient  for  the  cloth- 
ing manufacturer  who  seeks  to  produce  satisfactory  product.  It  is,  there- 
fore, supplemented.  There  is,  first,  steam  shrinking,  and  there  has  now 
been  introduced  into  this  country  the  cold-water  method,  which  leaves 
the  goods  shrunk  as  much  as  it  is  possible  for  the  wool  to  shrink. 


Building  a  Suit  of  Clothes 


39 


It  is  now  necessary  to  re  finish  the  goods,  and  in  this  process,  they  are 
placed  between  sheets  of  hard  finished  cardboard  and  subjected  to  a 
pressure  of  many  tons.  The  fabric  now  has  a  permanent  finish,  and  is 
ready  to  be  made  into  clothing.  It  is  also  necessary  to  shrink  to  the  same 
degree  the  haircloth  and  the  canvas  that  are  to  enter  into  the  garment. 
It  is  readily  understood  that  if  the  cloth  is  shrunk  and  the  inner  fabric 
unshrunk,  or  vice  versa,  there  will  be  a  pulling  that  will  mean  ill-fitting 
clothing.  Both  canvas  and  haircloth  are  shrunk  fully  15  per  cent,  in 
length  before  they  are  ready  to  be  cut  for  the  garment. 

The  shrinking  process  ended,  the  cloth  is  ready  for  the  cutter.  For 
each  style  and  for  each  size  of  every  style  there  are  separate  patterns. 
These  are  made  of  pasteboard,  drawn  by  a  skilled  designer,  each  corres- 
ponding with  a  certain  part  of  the  suit.  There  are  sixteen  separate 
parts  of  a  coat,  ten  for  a  vest  and  seven  for  a  pair  of  trousers. 


SECTION  OF  TRIMMING  ROOM 
The  various  parts  for  the  garment  are  here  arranged  and  laid  out. 


Now,  the  cloth  having  been  laid  on  the  tables  in  from  twelve  to 
twenty -four  thicknesses,  the  patterns  are  laid'upon  them  and  a  skilled 
workman  marks  the  outlines  on  the  cloth  with  wax  chalk.  This,  of 


40  Building  a  Suit  of  Clothes 

course,  is  an  important  step;  as  any  error,  even  the  slightest,  is  likely  to 
result  in  an  ill-fitting  garment.  To  prevent  errors  an  expert  passes  upon 
each  lot  before  and  after  cutting. 

This  process  of  cutting  is  not  the  laborious  one  with  which  all  are 


CUTTING  THE  GARMENTS 

Circular  knives,  revolved  at  high  speed  by  electricity  cut  through  many  thick 

of  material. 


familiar  from  seeing  the  tailor  at  work  with  his  shears.  As  many  as  a 
dozen  coats  are  cut  at  one  time.  An  instrument,  one  element  of  which 
is  a  circular  knife  that  revolves  with  the  rapidity  of  a  circular  saw,  is 
guided  along  the  lines  drawn  upon  the  top  of  two  dozen  thicknesses  of 
cloth,  laid  one  above  the  other.  The  knife,  driven  by  an  electric  motor, 
is  speeded  to  2,400  revolutions  a  minute,  and  with  an  ease  that  the  great 
tailor's  shears  never  knew,  it  slices  through  the  many  thicknesses  of 
material.  For  small  lots  of  clothing  the  shears  are  still  used. 

The  thirty-three  different  pieces  that  compose  the  garment  are  then 
turned  over  to  a  workman  whose  duty  it  is  to  separate  the  coat,  vest  and 
the  trousers  pieces  into  separate  bundles.  The  size  tickets  are  also  put 
on  at  this  time,  one  on  the  fore  part,  one  on  the  back  part  and  one  on  the 


Building  a  Suit  of  Clothes  41 

undersleeve  of  the  coat,  one  on  the  neck  of  the  vest,  and  one  on  the  fore- 
part of  the  trousers.  There  is  an  entirely  separate  force  of  employees 
who  are  doing  their  work  while  the  cloth  is  being  marked  and  cut ;  these 
are  the  trimmers.  It  is  their  province  to  prepare  all  linings  and 
all  accessories  that  make  up  a  coat.  A  very  important  part  in  the 
manufacture  of  clothing  is  the  matching  of  the  linings,  buttons  and 
similar  details.  An  expert  is  employed  to  do  this  work,  whose  duty 
it  is  to  see  that  the  exact  shade  of  lining  is  put  in  the  coat  to  match  the 
outside  material.  The  buttons  must  also  match,  and  even  in  the  detail 
of  sleeve  lining,  the  pattern  is  in  harmony  with  the  outside  cloth. 

The  garments  are  now  ready  for  the  tailoring  floor.  Here  are 
machines  whose  processes  amaze  by  their  rapidity.  There  is  a  button- 
holeing  machine  that  makes  seven  buttonholes  a  minute.  First,  a  knife 
lowers  and  cuts  through  the  cloth,  a  slit  the  length  of  the  buttonhole. 
Then  it  lifts  to  give  place  to  a  needle  which  automatically  travels  around 
the  opening,  stitching  in  the  buttonhole  almost  with  the  rapidity  of 
thought.  Another  machine  trims  up  the  pocket,  and  at  the  same 
operation,  binds  it. 

Then  the  garment  is  passed  on  to  the  expert  tailor.  There  is  no 
substitute  for  hand-work  in  the  setting  up  of  a  coat,  if  the  coat  is  to 
retain  its  shape.  Collars  and  fronts  must  pass  through  the  careful 
hands  of  the  expert,  if  the  exactions  of  a  critical  taste  are  to  be  met. 
When  the  coat  is  shaped  and  made,  the  fronts  are  subjected  to  a  pressure 
of  6,000  pounds.  Then  the  entire  garment  is  pressed  by  hand. 

All  of  these  garments  are  fitted  upon  a  human  figure  before  leaving 
the  factory,  forms  not  being  used  in  any  case.  In  order  to  carry  out  this 
method  of  fitting,  it  is  necessary  to  have  men  of  all  the  many  sizes  that 
are  being  turned  out.  Throughout  the  process  of  manufacture  there 
are  numerous  and  rigid  inspections,  so  that  the  slightest  imperfection 
may  be  noted,  and  if  possible,  corrected.  The  product  finally  goes  to 
the  "lay-out"  floor,  where  the  orders  of  thousands  of  customers  are 
assembled  for  shipment. 

This  department  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  of  all  such  great 
establishments.  The  system  here  must  be  of  the  most  perfect  kind, 
owing  to  the  multitude  of  accounts  and  the  great  number  of  orders  that 
must  be  handled  simultaneously.  The  shipments  are  assembled  on 
low  tables,  reaching  but  a  foot  above  the  floor,  and  as  each  is  complete 
it  is  cased.  Each  one  of  the  multitude  of  customers  has  his  own  number 
throughout  the  year,  and  the  assembling  is  by  number  throughout. 

A  quiet  revolution  has  been  going  forward  in  the  clothing  business — 


42  Building  a  Suit  of  Clothes 

a  revolution  which,  in  each  of  its  stages,  has  made  for  better  production, 
and  better  satisfaction  to  the  consumer,  both  in  fit  and  quality. 

In  former  years  the  manufacturers  had  all  the  operations  incidental 
to  the  manufacture  of  clothing,  except  the  cutting,  done  outside  of  their 
own  places  of  business.  The  unmade  garments  were  distributed  among 
many  operators  who  returned  them  when  completed.  The  result  was 
that  almost  every  garment  had  faults,  due  to  errors  in  judgment  or 
unskilled  workmanship,  and  there  was  a  deplorable  lack  of  uniformity 
in  tailoring  and  fit.  Formerly,  too,  before  processes  were  perfected  so 
that  the  high  grade  product  of  the  present  day  might  be  achieved,  very 
little  of  the  finest  of  woolen  fabrics  was  used  in  the  factory  production  of 
men's  clothing.  But  as  processes  were  gradually  improved,  and  as,  con- 
sequently, garments  which  came  more  and  more  to  meet  the  approval 
of  the  discerning  buyer  were  turned  out,  a  better  class  of  fabrics  came  to 
be  used.  To-day,  the  best  factories  cut  the  highest  grade  of  worsteds 
and  woolens. 


The  Creation  of  Women's  Garments 

T  is  a  recognized  fact  that  American  women  are  among  the 
best-dressed  in  the  world.  They  seem  to  know  intuitively 
what  is  right,  they  wear  their  clothes  well,  and  they  have 
that  indefinable  something  known  as  good  taste.  This 
being  so,  it  follows  naturally  that  the  manufacturer  of 
women's  garments  who  can  successfuly  cater  to  the  fastidi- 
ous taste  of  American  womankind,  who  can  follow  the  mad  turning  of 
the  wheel  of  fashion,  must  carry  into  the  conduct  of  his  business  ability 
of  a  high  order. 

In  the  manufacture  of  women's  cloaks  and  suits,  skirts  and  waists, 
Philadelphia  holds  a  leading  position,  volume  and  character  of  produc- 
tion considered.  Side  by  side  with  the  great  textile  mills  which  have 
formed  the  corner-stone  on  which  rests  the  city's  fame  as  a  manufacturing 
centre,  has  grown  up  this  closely -allied  industry.  Taking  the  product 
of  the  loom,  the  many  establishments  devoted  to  this  branch  of  manu- 
facture fashion  it  into  garments  which  have  a  distinctive  reputation 
throughout  the  retail  trade  of  the  country. 

In  the  manufacture  of  cloaks  and  suits  Philadelphia  has  advanced 
by  rapid  bounds.  In  the  year  1876,  when  the  industry  was  in  its  infancy, 
there  were  in  Philadelphia  but  two  concerns,  employing  approximately 
100  hands.  Little  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  has  elapsed,  yet 
the  industry  has  expanded  to  150  times  the  dimensions  it  had  attained 
in  the  Centennial  Year.  There  are  to-day  in  Philadelphia  150  manu- 
facturers, giving  employment  to  upward  of  15,000  hands.  There  is 
evidence  of  the  steady  advance  of  this  industry  in  the  fact  that  the 
limit  of  price  which  American  women  are  willing  to  pay  for  a  ready- 
made  garment  has  steadily  increased.  Ten  years  ago  few  cloaks  or 
suits  turned  out  from  a  large  establishment  would  retail  for  much  more 
than  $40.  Nowadays  it  is  not  unusual  to  make  garments  that  retail 
for  $100  and  more.  With  the  improvement  of  processes,  and  the  raising 
of  the  standard  of  quality  and  style,  there  has  been  a  steady  encroach- 
ment of  the  ready-made  garment  upon  the  domain  of  the  custom-made. 

The  general  process  of  the  making  of  a  cloak  or  a  suit  follows  closely 

(43) 


44  The  Creation  of  Women's  Garments 

that  of  the  manufacture  of  men's  clothing.  Man,  however,  is  not  a 
creature  of  brilliant  plumage,  and  in  one  of  these  establishments,  we  see 
a  much  greater  range  of  fabrics  and  colorings.  Then,  too,  in  the  matter 
of  designing,  elements  enter  that  are  not  involved  in  the  manufacture 


CUTTING  THE  MATERIAL 
This  is  one  of  the  devices  favored  by  cutter  on  certain  classes  of  goods. 


of  men's  clothing.  It  is  not  the  designer  who  has  ideas  that  alone 
makes  for  the  success  of  the  establishment;  but  it  is  in  a  far  greater 
degree  the  one  who  can  see  the  commercial  possibilities  of  an  idea,  and 
who  can  select  from  the  multitude  of  designs  those  which  will  please  the 
fastidious  woman.  None  the  less,  the  designer  is  the  basis  of  it  all.  In 
making  the  original  pattern  from  which  the  garment  is  to  arise,  the 
designer  makes  but  a  single  size,  that  is,  36.  Then  this  cardboard 
pattern  is  passed  on  to  the  pattern-makers,  who  draft  upon  it  a  regular 
line  of  sizes. 

The  material  to  be  cut  is  "laid  up,"  fold  above  fold,  as  in  the  mak- 
ing of  men's  clothes,  and  the  pattern  is  marked  out  on  the  upper  layer. 
It  is  the  anomaly  of  the  industry,  that  in  the  heat  of  summer  the  cutter 
and  the  tailor  are  handling  the  heaviest  kerseys,  meltons,  heavy  cheviots, 


The  Creation  of  Women's  Garments 


45 


and  broadcloths,  that  are  to  keep  off  December  chill,  while  in  winter, 
the  delicate  fabrics  for  summer  wear  are  passing  through  the  process  of 
manufacture — mohairs,  flannels,  linens  and  serges. 

Now  that  the  pattern  is  marked  upon  the  cloth,  the  electrically 
driven  circular  knife  is  passed  along  the  lines,  and  in  a  twinkling  the 
material  is  reduced  to  the  many  pieces  that  enter  into  the  garment. 
One  of  each  part  must  now  be  tied  into  a  bundle,  and  the  cut  garment 
is  passed  along  to  the  tailor,  who  puts  them  all  together.  Then  comes 
the  pressing,  the  fitting  upon  living  models,  and  finally,  the  most  rigid 
inspection  for  the  slightest  flaw.  If  a  mistake  is  detected,  it  must  be 
righted  before  the  garment  goes  to  the  purchaser. 

The  eminence  of  the  city  in  this  department  of  manufacture  is  not 
entirely  owing  to  the  distinctively  Philadelphia  houses,  though  these 
have  shown  marvelous  expansive  powers,  and  have  steadily  advanced 


THE  TAILORING  ROOM 
Hundreds  of  skilled  workers  here  receive  the  parts  and  fashion  the  garment. 

both  in  quality  and  character  of  output.  But  in  this  line  the  industrial 
life  of  Philadelphia  has  been  strengthened  by  many  incomers  from  other 
centres.  In  this,  as  forcibly  as  in  any  branch,  is  demonstrated  the 
superior  advantages  which  Philadelphia  possesses  as  an  industrial 


46 


The  Creation  of  Women's  Garments 


centre.  Realizing  the  position  enjoyed  by  Philadelphia,  cloak  and  suit 
manufacturers  have  come  here,  and  have  established  factories  that  have 
thrived  alongside  of  those  that  were  distinctively  Philadelphian. 

It  is  because  they  employ  a  skilful  and  contented  class  of  workers 


THE  FINAL  INSPECTION 

Placed  upon  forms,  the  finished  garments  are  scanned  for  defects,  the  least  of  which 
must  be  corrected. 


that  the  cloak  and  suit  houses  of  this  city  have  gained  their  high  repu- 
tation. Philadelphia  is  known  as  a  city  of  homes;  its  working  people 
are  thrifty,  and  it  has  seldom  to  contend  in  this  line  with  the  labor  diffi- 
culties encountered  elsewhere. 

As  the  taste  of  the  public  has  become  steadily  more  exacting,  the 
Philadelphia  establishments  have  as  steadily  improved  and  diversified 
the  character  of  their  production.  The  great  variety  and  the  elaborate 
styles  that  have  come  in  require  the  most  painstaking  and  accurate 
designing  and  work  to  produce  styles  sufficiently  fine  for  the  exclusive 
dress  of  the  United  States  trade. 


The  Story  of  An  Eiderdown  Sack 

ROM  the  raw  greasy  wool  as  it  comes  from  the  sheep,  to  the 
brightly  colored  eiderdown  sack,  is  a  far  reach;  yet  in  the 
knit  goods  industry  as  it  is  in  Philadelphia,  every  one  of  the 
many  intervening  steps  is  to  be  seen  under  a  single  immense 
roof. 

The  knitting  of  such  goods  as  eiderdown  and  sweaters 
is  a  distinct  and  important  industry,  and  one  in  which  the  most  intricate 
machines  have  been  devised  to  take  the  place  of  the  old,  laborious  hand 
stitch  of  our  grandmothers'  day.  The  busy  housewife  of  half  a  century 
ago  would  have  regarded  as  one  of  the  seven  wonders  a  machine  that 
should  take  not  hundreds  but  thousands  of  stitches  a  minute,  and  that 
would  turn  out  the  knitted  fabric  at  the  astonishing  rate  that  it  is  deliv- 
ered from  or.e  of  these  marvels  of  inventive  genius. 

Passing  the  early  steps  of  wool  sorting,  blending  and  scouring,  and 
beginr.ir.g  at  the  point  wheie  the  industry  separates  from  other  depart- 
ments of  textiles,  we  find  at  the  very  threshold  this  delicate  machinery. 
Take  first  the  knitting  of  sweaters.  The  sweater  is  not  turned  out  as  a 
single  garment  from  the  ordinary  knitting  machine  by  which  the  greater 
part  of  this  work  is  done.  One  machine  knits  the  arms,  and  not  a  single 
arm  alone  but  a  great  row  of  arms  are  turned  out  one  after  another,  and 
each  a  continuation  of  the  one  before.  This  one  continuous  arm  is  after- 
ward cut  apart  into  many.  If  a  blue  arm  with  a  red  wristband  is  desired 
the  machine  automatically  shifts  its  operations  to  the  red  bobbin  and  back 
again  to  the  blue.  There  is  a  different  machine  for  the  neck,  and  still 
another  for  the  body,  and  each  of  these  parts  again  comes  out  in  a  con- 
tinuous string,  to  be  cut  later  into  many  necks  or  bodies.  The  finest  of 
the  jerseys,  however,  such  as  the  Shaker  kr.its,  are  knit  flat.  In  each  of 
these  machines  the  principle  is  the  same.  Precisely  as  the  hand  crochet- 
ing hook  slips  through  a  loop,  catches  the  worsted  and  pulls  it  through  to 
form  a  new  loop,  so  this  machine  with  its  myriad  of  needles  operates. 

After  the  knitting,  the  pieces  for  each  sweater  are  assembled  and  then 
taken  in  hand  by  expert  operatives  who,  on  special  machines,  sew,  or,  in 
fact,  knit  up  the  seams.  This  is  the  plain  sweater,  that  pulls  on  over  the 

(47) 


48  The  Story  of  An  Eiderdown  Sack 

head.     There  are,  of  course,  many  varieties  of  design,  some  open  down 
the  front  and  these  must  be  faced  by  a  special  machine. 

While  in  the  making  of  the  eiderdown  fabric  a  machine  of  totally 
different  design  is  used,  the  knitting  principle  does  not  vary.    The  material 


THE  SPINNING  ROOM 

Not  so  peaceful  as  the  process  of  a  generation  ago,  but  several  hundred  times  as 

effective. 

is  knit  in  bag-shape;  that  is,  it  is  in  a  continuous  round  shape  that 
must  afterward  be  slit.  As  the  fabric  is  knitted  it  moves  around  the 
circles  of  needles,  each  of  which  does  its  work  of  passing  through  the  loop 
and  making  its  stitch.  These  circular  machines  have  from  940  to  1820 
needles.  As  the  fabric  is  knit  it  is  rolled  automatically  upon  a  roll  set 
above  the  machine. 

Eiderdown,  of  course,  is  not  eiderdown  at  all;  it  is  simply  a  fabric 
with  a  delicate,  fluffy  surface,  which,  having  the  softness  of  the  down  of 
the  eider  duck,  has  borrowed  the  name.  This  softness  is  obtained  by  the 
napping  process.  The  fabric,  in  this  process,  is  passed  between  drums 


The  Story  of  An  Eiderdown  Sack 


49 


covered  with  fine  steel  points  that  loosen  and  lift  the  surface.  After  this 
operation  the  material  is  three  to  four  times  as  thick  as  when  it  came  from 
the  knitting  machines. 

This  gives  the  ordinary  eiderdown  surface.  There  is  another  machine, 
however,  which  imparts  a  rippled  effect.  In  this,  the  eiderdown  passes 
over  a  steel  bed  covered  with  ordinary  carpeting.  Above  the  eiderdown 
is  a  table  upon  the  under  side  of  which  is  heavily  ribbed  corduroy.  When 
the  machine  is  in  operation  this  table  has  a  rapid  backward  and  forward, 


KNITTING  THE  FABRIC 

Here  are  seen  the  circular  eiderdown  machines  with  the  rolls  above  which  take 
the  fabric  as  it  is  knit. 


vibratory  motion,  which  give  to  the  material  the  wavy  or  rippled  effect. 
By  differently  adjusting  the  machine  the  table  is  given  a  rapid  circular 
motion,  when,  instead  of  the  ripple,  there  is  obtained  a  chinchilla  effect, 
the  soft  nap  being  wound  into  little  nubs  covering  the  surface. 


So  The  Story  of  An  Eiderdown  Sack 

Now  that  the  eiderdown  cloth  is  made  and  finished  it  is  ready  for  the 
expert  garment  fashioners,  and  goes  through  much  the  same  process  as 
would  a  woman's  suit  in  the  making.  It  is  first  to  be  examined  for  imper- 
fections and  then  cut  according  to  pattern.  The  cloth  is  laid"  up," 
layer  above  layer,  twenty-four  garments  being  cut  at  once. 

After  leaving  the  cutting  table  the  sack  passes  through  nearly  a  score 
of  hands  before  it  is  completed.  There  are  the  seamstresses  who  sew  the 
body  of  the  garment  together ;  then  there  are  others  who  put  on  the  satin 
binding ;  a  force  of  women  who  do  the  edging ;  others  that  are  kept  busy 
with  the  seaming,  and  still  others  whose  work  is  restricted  to  the  over- 
seaming. 

There  is  an  interesting  little  machine  that  does  applique  work.  The 
material  that  is  to  be  laid  over  the  cloth  is  lightly  fastened  on  and  the 
design  is  marked  upon  it.  Then  the  operative  guides  the  garment  through 
the  machine,  which  at  one  operation  stitches  on  the  material  and  cuts  out 
the  design.  Another  machine  which  crochets  edging,  whips  around  the 
edges  of  a  garment  with  the  rapidity  of  thought.  The  garment  is 
finally  completed  only  to  reach  the  hands  of  a  second  force  of  examiners. 

These  examiners  work  amid  a  room  filled  with  wooden  models,  which 
are  built  according  to  the  various  sizes.  The  examiners  place  the  gar- 
ments on  the  corresponding  models  as  they  come  from  the  sewing  room. 
If  there  is  the  slightest  discrepancy  it  is  carefully  noted  and  the  garment 
is  sent  back  to  the  person  at  fault  for  alteration.  The  finished  product 
is  then  given  the  stamp  of  final  approval,  pressed  and  packed  ready  for 
the  salesmen's  efforts. 


Shoes  in  the  Making 


HERE  are  few  lines  of  wares  in  which  shoddy  may  be  con- 
cealed from  the  eye  so  thoroughly  as  in  footwear.  A  shoe 
may  be  a  mere  veneer  of  leather,  and  beneath  the  surface 
may  be  made  of  material  that  gives  virtually  no  wearing 
qualities. 

Leather-board,  for  instance,  is  extensively  used  in  the 
manufacture  of  shoes  that  present  to  the  eye- of  the  wearer  for  a  short 
time  a  very  pleasing  front.  Leather-board  is  ground  leather  made  into 
pulp  and  then  pressed  into  sheets.  There  is  almost  no  limit  to  the  extent 
it  may  be  used  in  the  inner  soles  of  shoes.  Whited  sepulchres  of  the 
shoe  trade,  containing  this  material,  come  from  scores  of  cities  and  towns 
throughout  the  country. 

It  is  a  surprising  fact,  too,  that  while  shoes  with  leather-board  inner 
soles  sell  for  but  a  few  cents  less  a  pair  than  genuinely  made  shoes,  that 
element  in  their  making  has 
not  fifty  per  cent,  of  the 
wearing  qualities  of  leather. 
Stitches  will  hold  very  well 
in  leather-board  until  it  be- 
comes wet,  but  then  some- 
thing is  apt  to  give.  It  is 
the  boast  of  Philadelphia's 
shoe  trade  that  the  use  of 
leather-board  is  an  unknown 
art  in  the  shops  of  this  city. 
It  is  an  acknowledged 
fact  that  for  equal  price 
Philadelphia  makers  can  and 
do  constantly  give  better 
value  than  their  competitors. 


CUTTING  THE  UPPERS  FROM  PATTERNS 


In  women's,  misses'    and  children's 


footwear  the  city's  factories  have  always  led. 

Shoemaking  is  one  of  the    industries  toward  which  the   inventor 
first  began  to  draw  his  attention,  and  in  many  of  the  machines  used, 

(50 


5 a  Shoes  in  the  Making 

ingenuity  of  the  highest  order  is  shown,  the  progress  of  a  shoe  through  a 
modern  factory  being  astonishingly  rapid.  When  the  various  sorts  of 
leather  arrive,  they  first  go  through  the  hands  of  an  inspector,  ever  alert 
for  flaws.  They  are  then  sent  to  the  cutting  room.  Here  a  large  force 


THE  SEWING  ROOM 
Linings  and  uppers  are  stitched  together  by  the  operatives  at  these  machines. 


of  skilled  workmen  cut  the  leather  into  the  many  pieces  that  compose 
the  upper  of  a  shoe.  There  is  the  vamp,  the  backstay,  the  tongue,  the 
tip,  the  top  facing,  the  two  quarters,  the  two  eyestays  and  the  two 
linings.  These  are  cut  out  by  means  of  small  pasteboard  patterns. 

After  the  various  pieces  are  cut,  deft-fingered  sorters  arrange  them, 
all  the  parts  that  go  to  make  a  single  pair  of  shoes  being  tied  in  one 
bundle.  These  are  carried  to  the  fitting  room,  with  its  batteries  of 
sewing  machines,  at  which  are  skilled  women  workers,  who  assemble 
the  various  parts  of  the  shoe.  The  vamp,  backstays,  tongues,  etc.,  are 
speedily  stitched  together.  The  linings  are  trimmed  and  the  shoe  uppers 
are  here  almost  completed.  In  this  fitting  room  there  are  machines 


Shoes  in  the  Making 


53 


that  sew  buttons  on  the  shoes  and  others  that  stamp  in  the  eyelets  for 
the  laces.  These  are  marvelous  workers  and  in  less  than  a  second 
place  six  buttons  on  a  shoe.  It  takes  no  longer  to  put  in,  stamp  and  space 
the  eyelets. 

In  another  department  the  soles  are  cut.  The  block  cowhide  soles 
come  into  the  factory  and  are  placed  in  cutting  machines,  where  sharp 
knives  trim  them  to  the  desired  shape  and  size.  Then  they  are  subjected 
to  great  pressure  to  give  them  the  curved-in  shape. 

Now  another  set  of  operatives  take  the  parts  for  finishing.  The 
soles  are  carefully  sewed  to  the  uppers,  passing  through  many  hands 
before  the  work  is  completed.  A  machine  of  remarkable  ingenuity 
nails  on  the  heel  of  a  shoe  in  the  fraction  of  a  second.  At  one  stroke 
fifteen  to  twenty-five  nails,  according  to  the  size  of  the  shoe,  are  driven 


THE  FINISHING  MACHINES 
Here  the  shoe  takes  on  the  final  touches  prior  to  going  to  the  shipping  room. 

into  the  heel.  Long  wire  tubes  are  attached  above  the  machine  and 
through  these  the  nails  filter  to  a  small  steel  frame  which  holds  them 
erect  and  in  their  proper  places.  The  shoe  is  placed  in  a  niche,  and  at 
one  stroke  all  the  nails  are  driven  into  place. 


54  Shoes  in  the  Making 

The  shoe  must  yet  pass  through  many  hands  before  it  becomes  the 
finished  product.  It  is  first  taken  to  a  turning  machine,  where  a  skilled 
workman  turns  the  heel  so  that  it  will  have  a  smooth,  round  surface.  The 
work  is  done  by  a  steel  knife,  rapidly  revolved  by  electric  power. 

After  the  heel  has  been  turned  it  is  taken  to  a  similar  machine 
equipped  with  a  burnisher  instead  of  a  steel  knife.  This  gives  the  heel 
its  polish.  Finally  the  sole  is  stained  and  given  a  glossy  appearance. 
Wax  black  is  also  used  to  give  a  finished  appearance.  The  laces  are  then 
put  in  and  the  shoes  packed  and  made  ready  for  shipment. 

Always  an  important  leather  centre,  Philadelphia  has,  in  the  past 
few  years,  revolutionized  an  industry  which  is  daily  becoming  a  more 
important  factor  in  the  vast  shoe  manufacturing  business  of  the  country. 
This  is  the  manufacture  of  glazed  kid. 

Fortunes  were  sunk  by  Philadelphia  manufacturers  in  an  endeavor 
to  obtain  the  ideal  process  for  the  tanning  of  goat  skin.  They  solved 
the  secret  of  what  is  more  and  more  coming  to  be  recognized  as  a  very 
close  approach  to  the  perfect  shoe  leather — glazed  kid.  Formerly  a 
vegetable  tannage  was  used.  The  chrome  tannage,  which  was  here 
perfected,  is  a  chemical  process  and  produces  leather  that  is  impervious 
to  water.  The  superior  qualities  of  glazed  kid  have  become  so  well 
known  that  while  a  few  years  ago  only  women's  and  a  few  children's 
shoes  were  made  of  it,  it  is  now  used  extensively  in  men's  shoes,  which 
was  then  an  unthought-of  possibility. 

There  are  many  who  still  remember  the  time  when  all  fine  shoes 
were  what  was  known  as  French  kid.  Now  the  conditions  are  reversed 
Not  only  have  Americans  taken  their  home  market  away  from  the  French 
but  are  actually  sending  to  France  large  quantities  of  glazed  kid. 

A  few  figures  are  sufficient  to  show  the  importance  of  this  vast  indus- 
try. There  are  about  1 50,000  goat  skins  manufactured  each  day  into  glazed 
kid  in  America.  Of  this  great  number  about  120,000  skins  are  used  in 
Philadelphia.  This  means  employment  for  about  8,000  to  10,000  hands. 
The  fact  that  goat  skin  importation  increased  $3,000,000  in  1905  over 
1904  indicates  the  amazing  growth  of  this  business.  While  proximity 
to  this  and  its  allied  industries  has  doubtless  tended  to  strengthen  the 
manufacture  of  boots  and  shoes  in  Philadelphia,  the  city's  factories  in 
this  line  have  always  enjoyed  an  unrivalled  reputation  for  style  and 
quality  of  production,  to  maintain  which  no  such  alliance  is  needed. 


Pleasing  the  Fancy  in  Leather  Goods 


HERE  is  no  article  upon  which  quality  is  so  plainly  imprinted 
nor  any  in  which  shoddy,  whether  in  material  or  workman- 
ship, may  so  readily  be  detected  as  in  manufactured  leather. 
It  is  very  natural  that  there  should  be  an  unmistakable 
character  in  a  piece  of  leather  upon  which  the  high  grade 
manufacturer  is  willing  to  place  his  trade  mark,  and  which 
he  is  willing  to  stand  by.  For  in  very  few  of  the  various  parts  of  the 
field  of  industry,  has  hand  labor  so  successfully  resisted  the  advance  of 
machinery ;  and  upon  such  goods  is  the  stamp  of  the  artisan.  There  are 
machine  processes,  it  is  true,  but  essentially  these  are  hand-made  goods, 
every  part  of  which  has  passed  beneath  the  eye  of  the  skilled  workman. 
Some  conception  of  the  range  of  styles  and  forms  of  leather  goods, 
is  to  be  gained  in  the  leather  stock  rooms  of  an  establishment  devoted 
to  the  manufacture  of  the  highest  in  this  line  of  production.  An  almost 
inconceivable  range  of  leathers,  and  shades  of  finishing  is  to  be  seen. 
Everybody  is  familiar  with  seal,  such  as  is  seen  in  fine  pocket  books. 
This,  of  course,  is  the  skin  of  the  hair  seal,  as  that  of  the  fur  seal  would 
be  too  costly  for  such  purposes.  Walrus  is  merely  the  hair  seal  with 
a  different  finish.  Alligator,  lizard,  pigskin  which  men  fancy,  but  which 
is  not  so  desirable  for  woman,  calfskin,  goat  and  even  snake,  the  gener- 
ality of  people  are  familiar  with.  Not  so  many  know  that  in  the  past 
year  or  two  frog  skins  have  come  to  be  made  up  into  fine  pocket  books. 
These  are  imported  from  Japan;  though  in  America  the  experiment  of 
tanning  the  skin  of  the  ordinary  bullfrog  has  been  made  with  some  suc- 
cess. The  skins  of  the  Java  buffalo  as  well  as  monkey  skins  are  used  as  a 
novelty  in  limited  varieties.  Even  less  familiar,  in  fine  leather  goods, 
is  the  skin  of  the  elephant — yet  it  is  used.  Occasionally  an  elephant 
skin  comes  upon  the  market ;  and  it  is  eagerly  snapped  up  by  the  manu- 
facturer who  seeks  for  the  greatest  range  of  styles.  It  will  cost  him, 
however,  from  $300  to  $500 — $10  a  square  foot — and  a  very  small  card 
case  made  of  it  will  cost  $15,  while  a  lady's  bag  will  cost  $100. 

Nor  are  these  the  only  skins  that  pass  into  the  hands  of  the  skilled 
workman  on  leather  goods.     A  huntsman  kills  a  rare  animal  or  even  a 

(55) 


56  Pleasing  the  Fancy  in  Leather  Goods 

bird,  and  he  may  fancy  a  pocket  book  or  a  novelty  made  of  the  skin.  So 
in  the  making  of  these  dainty  creations  of  leather,  there  pass  beneath  the 
eye  and  iron  of  the  workman  the  skins  of  specimens  of  almost  the  whole 
animal  kingdom.  These  are  only  the  kinds  of  leather,  but  they  by  no 


CUTTING  THE  LEATHER 
The  highest  grades  in  many  varieties  pass  under  the  knives  of  these  workmen. 


means  cover  the  range  of  styles  that  are  to  be  seen  in  such  a  stock-room. 
There  are  various  finishes  that  may  be  given  to  leather  to  produce  varie- 
ties of  grains,  and  then,  too,  there  is  a  limitless  number  of  tints  and 
shades  that  may  be  given  to  each  leather.  Morocco,  or  goatskin,  which 
for  wear  is  unexcelled,  may  be  given  a  finish  in  imitation  of  almost  all 
of  these  kinds  of  leather.  Seal  may  have  its  natural  grain,  which  is 
pebbled,  or  variations  may  be  obtained,  as  for  instance  in  what  is 
known  as  Falkland  seal,  which  has  pronounced  lines  running  through  it. 
Many  of  these  skins  are  very  costly,  and  as  they  are  paid  for  by  the 
square  foot,  it  will  not  do  to  take  unquestioned  the  statement  of  the 
seller.  The  skin  is  first  of  all  passed,  therefore,  through  a  machine 
which  automatically  measures  it  and  records  upon  a  dial  its  exact  size 


Pleasing  the  Fancy  in  Leather  Goods  57 

in  square  feet.     Not  a  comer  nor  a  projecting  lip  of  leather  is  forgotten 

by  this  wonderful  machine  in  its  calculations. 

Before  these  leathers  can  be  used  in  the  making  of  fine  leather 
goods,  all  the  oils  must  be  extracted,  as  they  would  otherwise  soil  any 
delicate  article  that  should  touch  their  surface.  Matching  all  these 
various  leathers  and  shades  and  tints  of  the  same  leather,  is  a  separate 
large  stock  of  silks  and  other  materials — velvets,  satins,  etc., — ranging 
from  sombre  blacks  and  delicate  ecrus,  to  blues  and  vivid  reds. 

Now  the  leather  is  to  be  cut.  As  it  is  irregular  in  shape  it  could  not 
be  cut  by  machinery  without  great  wastage;  and,  furthermore,  there 
may  be  defects  which  no  machine  could  detect .  Therefore  each  skin  must 
pass  beneath  the  eye  of  the  skilled  cutter,  who  carves  out  the  parts  with 
the  aid  of  pasteboard  patterns. 


A  FINISHING  ROOM 
Final  touches  are  here  placed  upon  the  manufactured  article. 

It  is  not  a  consecutive  process  by  which  the  goods  pass  onward  to 
their  finished  state.  It  may  be  necessary  to  pass  a  given  piece  three, 
four  and  even  five  times  through  the  stitching  room ;  as  at  the  various 
stages  a  few  stitches  must  be  taken  here  and  there.  But,  first  of  all,  after 


58  Pleasing  the  Fancy  in  Leather  Goods 

the  cutting  stage,  comes  the  bevelling  or  paring  of  the  leather.  It  is 
plain  that  if  the  edges,  which  must  be  folded  over  in  the  subsequent 
stages,  were  left  untrimmed,  the  finished  pocket-book  or  other  article 
would,  to  a  certainty,  be  a  very  clumsy  piece  of  work.  In  bevelling 
down  the  edges  a  high  degree  of  skill  is  required  if  the  fold  is  to  be  nice. 
While  in  some  of  the  work  a  bevelling  machine  is  used  in  which  a  sand- 
paper covered  wheel  scrapes  down  the  edge,  in  by  far  the  greater  part  of 
the  work,  this  is  a  hand  process.  In  order  to  overcome  bulkiness  much 
of  the  leather  is  split,  and  this  must  be  backed  up  with  some  fibre  pasted 
to  the  inner  surface.  The  omission  of  this  backing  is  one  of  the  many 
ways  in  which  a  piece  of  work  may  be  skimped. 

The  leather  being  cut  and  bevelled,  now  comes  the  process  of  putting 
the  parts  together.  The  delicate  silk  linings  are  introduced;  gussets, 
which  allow  the  pockets  to  expand;  and,  in  the  case  of  shopping  bags, 
for  instance,  the  leather  must  be  attached  to  the  frame.  In  many  of 
the  finer  goods  the  leather  is  riveted  on,  though  in  the  greater  number 
it  is  sewed  on  by  hand.  One  simple  process  that  adds  much  to  the 
appearance  of  the  piece  of  goods,  is  the  running  of  the  fine  line  which  will 
be  seen  just  inside  the  edge  of  any  pocket-book.  This  is  done  by  hand, 
the  workman  running  in  the  line  with  a  heated  iron. 

When  it  is  considered  what  a  wonderful  range  of  articles  comes 
from  a  large  establishment  of  this  kind,  it  will  be  seen  that  there  are 
almost  as  many  processes  in  which  skill  in  the  individual  workman  is 
essential  to  high  grade  production. 

The  Philadelphia  manufacturer  in  this  line  has  sought,  and  sought 
successfully,  to  strike  the  happy  mean  between  the  bulky  English  goods — • 
which  are  made  first  of  all  for  wear,  and  which  will  unquestionably  wear 
a  lifetime — and  the  finer  and  dainter  creations  of  the  Vienna  workshops 
in  which,  many  times,  strength  is  sacrificed  to  lightness  and  fine  ap- 
pearance. The  American  manufacturer  who  values  the  reputation  for 
fine  goods  will  not  sacrifice  strength,  but,  in  order  to  obtain  fine  appear- 
ance in  the  finished  wares,  he  will  approach  as  closely  as  may  be  to  the 
danger  line. 

It  is  impossible  for  better  leather  goods  to  be  made  than  those  that 
are  turned  out  from  the  best  of  the  Philadelphia  factories.  Here  are 
to  be  found  manufacturers  who  will  not  allow  a  piece  of  goods  to  leave 
their  workshops  without  their  own  mark,  even  to  please  the  largest 
customer  desiring  his  own  mark  solely;  who  stand  behind  every  article 
made  by  them  and  who,  consequently,  have  the  strongest  incentive  to 
maintain  the  standard  which  they  have  set  for  themselves. 


Rearing  Ribbons 

F  the  drowsy  silkworm,  lying  within  its  cocoon,  could  dream 
of  the  beautiful  effects  that  would  come  of  its  labor,  it  would 
doubtless  awake  to  a  very  high  sense  of  its  own  importance 
in  the  world.  Yet  it  is  not  all  the  silkworm,  for  between  the 
fine  spun  raw  material  and  the  silk  of  comnferce,  are  a  multi- 
tude of  intricate  and  delicate  processes.  Without  the  aid  of 
man,  the  airy  fibre  as  it  comes  from  the  industrious  little  spinner  would 
be  of  no  avail.  And  in  the  weaving  and  fashioning  of  this  fibre,  man  has 
vied  with  man  until  process  has  been  perfected  as  in  very  few  other  lines 
of  industry. 

A  brief  study  of  modern  methods  of  silk-making  will  furnish  con- 
vincing proof  of  the  steady  improvement  of  recent  years,  which  has 
reduced  to  the  very  finest  possible  point  the  cost  of  production.  In  the 
manufacture  of  ribbons  and  dress  silk,  Philadelphia  has  forged  steadily 
ahead  in  the  past  few  years.  While  some  of  the  other  manufacturing 
centres  have  been  content  to  abide  by  older  methods,  Philadelphia 
makers  of  silks  and  ribbons  have  been  satisfied  with  nothing  short  of  the 
latest  and  best  equipment.  The  art  of  weaving  is  here  seen  in  its  per- 
fection, the  highest  economy  of  production  compatible  with  high  class 
production  being  achieved. 

Raw  silk,  as  it  comes  from  Japan,  Italy  and  China,  is  first  taken  in 
hand  by  the  "throwster,"  whose  work  it  is  to  make  of  these  delicate 
fibres  that  come  from  the  silkworm,  thread  suitable  for  the  loom.  This 
means  a  thread  of  two,  three,  four,  five  or  six  raw  fibres,  according  to  the 
use  to  which  it  is  to  be  put. 

"Organzine"  is  the  term  given  to  the  finest  of  the  thread,  which  is 
used  for  the  warp.  The  filling,  which  is  slightly  inferior,  is  termed  "tram." 
From  the  "throwster"  the  silk  goes  to  the  dyer,  whose  process 
requires  from  three  days  to  a  week.  The  dyed  silk  is  now  put  on  the 
winding  frames,  which  are  modern  and  automatic  in  action.  Each  frame 
consists  of  seventy -two  revolving  spindles,  which  are  small  wheels  run  on 
a  horizontal  axle,  connecting  with  as  many  spools.  The  skein  silk  is 
placed  on  the  creels  known  as  "swifts"  and  is  then  unwound,  running  to 
the  spools  where  it  is  wound  again. 

(59) 


6o 


Rearing  Ribbons 


When  the  silk  is  taken  from  the  winding  machine  on  the  spools  it 
is  ready  for  the  warping  machines.  These  are  big  wheels  of  wooden 
frame-work  about  ten  feet  in  height.  The  spools  are  first  placed  on  a 
creel.  This  is  a  flat  wooden  board  about  four  feet  square  and  has  places 


WINDING  THE  SILK 
The  spools  for  the  warp  are  wound  by  these  machines  with  amazing  rapidity. 


for  several  hundred  spools  which  are  ranged  in  rows.  The  thread  from 
each  spool  is  placed  on  the  warping  machine  and  the  many  threads  are 
brought  into  the  warp  of  the  material  as  the  big  warping  machine  slowly 
revolves.  The  number  of  threads,  of  course,  varies  with  the  width  of  the 
cloth,  the  ribbons  requiring  few  in  comparison  with  the  dress  silks.  Some 
of  the  thirty-six-inch  goods  have  as  many  as  12,000  ends  or  threads  in 
the  warp. 

When  goods  of  a  certain  length  are  to  be  made,  the  warp  threads 
must  be  made  considerably  longer,  as  there  will  be  an  important  "take- 
up  "  in  the  weaving  process.  Each  time  the  filling  interlocks  there  is  a 


Rearing  Ribbons 


61 


very  small  gather,  which  means  shortening  of  about  seven  per  cent,  when 
the  fabric  is  completed. 

While  the  warping  mill  has  been  doing  its  work,  the  filling  is  being 
wound  upon  the  quills  that  are  to  be  placed  in  the  shuttle.  The  machine 
which  does  this  winding  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  of  the  many 
ingenious  devices  found  in  the  field  of  textiles.  Long  rows  of  quills  are 
wound  upon  the  machine  simultaneously,  and  at  the  breaking  of  a  thread 
that  part  of  the  ma- 
chine that  is  winding 
the  particular  quill  sus- 
pends operations  auto- 
matically until  the 
operator  adjusts  the 
difficulty. 

No  machine  has 
been  carried  farther 
toward  a  state  of  per- 
fection than  the  ribbon 
loom,  and  it  is  in  Amer- 
ica that  the  loom  has 
been  brought  to  its 
highest  development. 
Upon  these  high  speed 
side  Jacquards  as  many 
as  thirty-four  spaces — 
that  is,  separate  widths 
— are  woven  at  a  single 
operation,  while  of  the 
very  narrow  ribbon, 
Number  2,  as  many  as 
ninety-six  spaces  may 
be  woven  simultane- 
ously. 

The  German  loom 
is  a  very  ponderous  and 

inefficient  affair  compared  with  the  modern  American  double-decked 
ribbon  loom,  with  its  two  tiers  of  flying  shuttles.  No  foreign  ribbon 
looms  are  brought  into  this  country  to-day ;  they  have  been  superseded 
by  this  marvel  of  American  ingenuity. 

In  another  department  of  the  mill,  yard  silks  are  woven.    Here  again 


THE  WARPING  MACHINE 

On  these  big  wheels  silk  from  the  many  spools  is  grad- 
ually gathered  into  the  warp. 


62 


Rearing  Ribbons 


appear  the  infinite  number  of  beautiful  patterns  that  come  from  the 
Jacquard.  A  changeable  silk  is  obtained  by  using  a  warp  of  one  color 
and  a  filling  of  another,  as,  for  instance,  a  black  and  a  green. 

Very  few  of  the  silk  weaving  mills  finish  their  own  fabrics.  Indeed, 
the  finishing  of  silks  is  an  art  by  itself,  and  one  which  constantly  changes 
with  the  changing  breath  of  fashion;  and  the  manufacturer,  therefore,  is 
entirely  willing  to  devote  himself  exclusively  to  the  making  of  the  fabric. 
Each  of  the  different  purposes  for  which  silk  is  used  demands  a  different 
finish.  The  maker  of  waists  demands  one  finish, the  maker  of  skirts, 
another,  and  of  underskirts,  still  another.  Fashion,  too,  is  very  capricious, 
One  season  she  demands  a  rustling  silk,  another  season,  a  silk  that  is  stiff 
but  which  does  not  rustle,  and  still  another,  a  natural  silk. 

As  the  ribbon  is  taken  from  the  looms,  it  is  measured  off  into  lengths 


A  RIBBON  LOOM 
Many  widths  of  ribbon  are  woven  simultaneously  by  this  modern  device. 

of  ten  yards  each,  the  operator  slashing  with  her  scissors  into  the  dainty, 
finely  woven  fabric  to  mark  the  end  of  each  length.  These  lengths  are 
now  taken  to  a  machine  where  they  are  speedily  rolled  into  the  familiar 
blocks  or  "bolts"  when  they  are  ready  for  the  market. 


The  Magic  Growth  of  a  Curtain 

IE  WED  in  the  light  of  twentieth  century  achievement, 
the  genii  of  Alladin's  wonderful  lamp  seem  after  all  to  have 
been  endowed  with  no  very  extraordinary  powers.  Go 
where  you  will  in  the  industrial  field  to-day  and  on  every 
hand  are  to  be  seen  evidences  of  accomplished  facts  that 
would  make  the  old  time  wonder-worker  hide  his  face 
and  own  himself  vanquished. 

In  no  branch  of  mechanical  endeavor  have  greater  results  been 
accomplished  than  in  the  gradual  development  of  lace  making.  Ages 
ago  some  one  first  demonstrated  the  idea  by  placing  two  or  three  fibres 
side  by  side  and  entwining  others  in  and  out  around  them.  Nowadays, 
thousands  of  delicate  hair  threads  are  handled  with  marvelous  ease, 
rapidity  and  dexterity  by  a  machine  of  twenty-six  thousand  pounds 
weight — a  ponderous  spider  that  weaves  seventy -two  pairs  of  curtains, 
fifty  inches  wide,  in  a  single  day. 

Though  the  lace  curtain  forms  one  of  the  chief  decorative  features 
of  the  modern  home,  it  would  be  interesting  to  know  how  many  persons 
ever  give  a  single  thought  to  its  place  or  method  of  production.  Quite 
generally,  Nottingham,  Calais,  Plauen  and  St.  Gall  have  been  regarded 
as  the  modern  centres  of  lace  making;  and  it  may  therefore  come  as  a 
direct  surprise  that  the  largest  individual  manufactory  in  the  world  is 
located,  not  in  any  one  of  these  old  world  cities,  but  in  Philadelphia 
and  that  this  one  great  plant  has  a  capacity  of  from  50,000  to  60,000  pairs 
of  lace  curtains  every  week.  It  has  been  Nottingham  lace ;  it  should  be 
Philadelphia  lace;  for  not  only  has  the  industry  here  made  marvelous 
strides,  growing  at  a  rate  that  it  never  grew  elsewhere,  but  in  exquisite 
effects  obtained  the  city  to-day  outclasses  its  older  rivals. 

The  first  real  step  in  the  operation  of  lace  making,  subsequent  to 
the  designing  of  the  pattern,  comes  in  the  winding  room.  Here  great 
bales  of  cotton  thread  weighing  between  350  and  400  pounds  are  opened 
up  just  as  they  are  received  from  the  spinning  mills  in  Virginia  and  North 
Carolina.  The  skeins  of  thread  are  now  wound  on  spools,  which  will 
eventually  contribute  their  quota  to  form  the  flower  or  figure  in  the  cur- 

(63) 


64  The  Magic  Growth  of  a  Curtain 

tain.  There  are  three  separate  and  distinct  operations  necessary  in 
order  to  complete  the  "winding. "  First,  the  spools,  second,  the  bobbins 
— and  lastly,  the  "warp"  thread.  These  latter  run  longitudinally 
through  the  curtain  and  constitute  the  body  or  ground  work  upon  which 


THE  LACE  CURTAIN  LOOM 
Many  breadths  of  curtains  are  turned  off  simultaneously  by  the  wonderful  worker. 

the  net  and  design  is  executed  by  the  loom.  Two  warps  constitute  a 
"winding,"  the  threads  being  4,500  yards  in  length. 

The  bobbins  are  round,  slightly  larger  than  a  silver  dollar  though  no 
thicker,  and,  tightly  clamped  together,  are  wound  a  hundred  at  a  time. 
When  full  they  contain  from  ninety  to  one  hundred  and  eighty  yards 
each,  according  to  the  fineness  of  the  thread.  There  are  from  2,000  to 
4,000  of  these  bobbins  to  each  machine,  the  number  varying  according 
to  the  quality  of  the  goods  to  be  made. 

Upon  each  of  these  great  looms  six  curtains  sixty  inches  in  width  are 
woven  simultaneously.  The  curtains  are  not  delivered  from  the  loom 
separately  but  in  continuous  ropes,  in  which  form  they  now  go  to  the 
mending  room.  They  must  here  be  examined  for  breaks,  tears  and  other 
imperfections.  Formerly  all  this  work  was  done  by  hand.  Now  a 


The  >Iagic  Growth  of  a  Curtain  65 

machine  that  works  with  lightning  rapidity  goes  over  the  curtain,  mend- 
ing each  of  the  imperfections.  Marvelous  as  this  machine  is,  it  would 
do  but  clumsy  work  if  it  were  not  for  the  skillful  manipulation  of  the  cur- 
tain by  the  operator  as  it  passes  under  the  needle.  The  figure  is  carried 
unerringly  in  the  mind  of  the  operative,  and  wherever  there  is  a  flaw  that 
particular  part  is  guided  to  the  needle  for  correction. 

As  the  long  mass  of  netting  comes  from  these  mending  machines, 
it  lies  in  great  heaps  ready  for  its  trip  to  the  bleaching  room;  and  this 
journey  is  one  of  the  striking  sights  of  a  lace  curtain  manufactory. 

The  piles  are  not  carted  into  the  bleaching  department  but  are 
whisked  at  lightning  speed  through  a  "hole  in  the  wall"  near  the  ceiling. 
This  aperture  in  the  partition  is  about  eight  inches  in  diameter  and  is 
lined  with  porcelain  so  that  there  may  be  no  damage  to  the  fabric. 


THE  MENDING  ROOM 
Overhead  is  shown  the  curtain  rope  passing  rapidly  on  its  way  to  be  bleached. 

Through  it  passes  this  seemingly-never-ending  rope  of  curtain  to  take 
its  dip  in  the  bleach  pots.  There  it  is  immersed  in  chemically  charged 
pots  large  enough  to  accommodate  from  5,000  to  7,000  pairs  of  curtains 
at  one  time.  The  bleaching  process  takes  about  a  day. 

5 


66  The  Magic  Growth  of  a  Curtain 

When  it  is  desired  to  make  ecru  curtains,  these  are  not  subjected 
to  the  bleaching  process,  the  natural  color  of  the  cotton  being  ecru. 
Many  of  the  curtains  have  this  natural  shade  with  a  pure  white  design 
woven  upon  them.  This  is  obtained  by  using  the  natural  cotton  for 


THE  FOLDING  ROOM 
On  the  upright  T's  the  curtains  are  given  their  first  fold  in  one  yard  breadths. 

the  body  of  the  curtain  and  using  for  the  pure  white  design  cotton  thread 
which  has  previously  been  bleached.  There  is  also  what  is  known  as  a 
half  bleach.  In  the  ordinary  full  bleaching  process,  the  curtains  are 
placed  in  the  bleach  pots,  then  taken  out  and  washed  and  then  returned 
to  the  bleach.  In  the  half  bleach,  they  are  given  but  one  immersion. 
This  leaves  them  with  a  delicate  cream  tint  which  is  brought  out  by  a 
mild  stain.  The  Arabian  curtains  are  given  their  deep  ecru  by  staining. 

After  the  bleaching  and  the  washing  the  curtains  are  transferred  to 
what  is  commonly  known  as  a  "whizzer,"  that  is,  a  centrifugal  drier 
which,  whirling  at  high  speed  expels  the  water  until  there  is  just  enough 
moisture  left  to  take  up,  in  the  next  process,  the  starching  ingredients 
to  the  best  advantage. 

The  finishing  machine  is  another  of  the  wonders  of  a  lace  curtain 


The  Magic  Growth  of  a  Curtain  67 

making  plant.  The  curtains,  still  a  long  rope,  are  first  immersed  in  a 
solution  of  starch.  Then  as  they  move  further  into  the  machine  they  are 
gradually  spread  out  upon  a  continuously  moving  apron  until  they  are 
at  their  full  width.  Now  they  pass  between  steam  rollers  or  drums  and 
emerge  from  the  machine  perfectly  dry  and  with  the  familiar  crisp  finish 
of  the  lace  curtain. 

Through  these  rooms — the  weaving,  the  winding,  the  bleaching  and 
the  finishing — the  curtains  have  been  in  one  long  piece.  Now  they  are 
to  be  cut  apart  and  to  take  their  shape  for  the  first  time  as  the  curtain  of 
commerce.  The  edges  are  yet  to  be  trimmed,  the  operator  again  guiding 
the  fabric  through  a  machine  which  this  time  makes  the  familiar  wave- 
like  edges. 

The  curtains  next  go  to  the  folding  room.  The  main  folds  are  put 
in  by  girls  who  work  at  a  frame  shaped  like  a  large  "T. "  At  either  end 
of  the  cross  piece  is  an  upright  needle  and  the  curtain  is  caught  from  one 
of  these  to  the  other  until  it  is  in  yard  folds.  Now  it  is  passed  along 
to  other  operatives  who  put  in  the  remaining  folds,  and  then  to  still  others 
who  are  kept  busy  feeding  the  light  fabric  into  huge  presses  where  it  is 
settled  or  pressed  into  form  for  handling. 

Next  the  facing  or  colored  tissue  is  inserted,  and  the  curtains  are 
ticketed  and  tied  in  pairs.  They  then  pass  into  the  hands  of  a  wrapper, 
who  applies  the  finishing  touch  in  the  shape  of  cream  manila  paper  and 
sends  them  to  the  shipping  room.  It  requires  'from  twelve  to  twenty 
days  to  complete  this  process  from  the  cotton  thread  to  the  shipping 
room. 

The  art  has  advanced  to  so  high  a  degree  towards  perfection  that  it 
is  now  virtually  limited  only  by  the  ingenuity,  inspiration  and  artistic 
ability  of  the  draftsman  and  the  designer.  Laces  are  being  made  by 
machine  to-day  that  will  bear  expert  scrutiny  beside  those  that  are  hand 
made;  indeed,  these  monster  machines  are  producing  fabrics  as  filmy 
and  wonderful  as  ever  was  spun  by  spider  in  his  secluded  nook. 

In  view  of  the  great  consumption  of  lace  in  this  country — a  consump- 
tion which  was,  in  former  years,  met  by  foreign  makers— and  also  in 
view  of  the  great  development  of  this  industry  in  Philadelphia,  the 
position  of  the  city  as  a  lace  making  centre  is  secure.  With  the  largest 
lace  manufactory  in  the  world  and  with  another  larger  and  even  more 
modern,  in  course  of  construction,  with  high  quality  of  production  as  it 
is  achieved  nowhere  else,  Philadelphia  lace  making  rests  upor  a  firm  and 
lasting  basis. 


The  History  of  a  Carpet  Roll 

ARPET  looms  in  two  wards  situated  in  the  busiest  of  the 
Philadelphia  mill  districts,  have  as  great  carpet -making 
capacity  as  the  looms  of  all  the  rest  of  the  country  com- 
bined. There  are  in  these  two  wards  3,300  looms,  having 
a  capacity  of  45,000,000  yards  annually.  This  equals  the 
output  of  all  carpet  mills  in  America  outside  of  Philadelphia. 
While  these  looms  are  operated  largely  in  the  manufacture  of  in- 
grain carpets,  there  has  been  a  constantly  increasing  production  of  body 
Brussels  and  tapestries,  Wiltons  and  velvets.  In  all  of  these  classes  of 
goods, the  output  of  the  city's  mills  is  to-day  of  high  quality;  its  Wiltons, 
in  fact,  being  unequaled  in  texture.  Sharp  as  has  been  the  competition 
of  other  great  industrial  centres,  excellent  as  is  the  quality  of  goods 
produced  in  them,  Philadelphia  remains  the  carpet  city  of  the  country. 
In  all  branches  of  the  manufacture  of  carpets — designing,  dyeing, 
weaving  and  finishing — there  has  been  a  constant  advance  in  recent 
years.  To-day  the  art  is  near  its  highest  stage,  and  if  the  manufacturer 
would  establish  a  reputation  for  high  production  in  any  one  of  the  qual- 
ities of  carpets,  he  must  neglect  no  single  step  in  the  process  of  making. 

Familiar  as  the  housewife  is  with  the  carpet,  it  is  to  be  doubted 
whether  one  in  a  hundred  knows  why  one  carpet  is  better  than  another ; 
knows  the  difference  between  a  Wilton  and  a  velvet,  or,  indeed,  even 
the  meaning  of  the  term  "body  Brussels."  In  the  weaving  of  body 
Brussels  and  Wiltons  all  the  various  colors  of  yarn  used  in  the  weaving 
run  continuously  through  the  fabric,  being  merely  hidden  from  sight  in 
those  places  where  the  design  does  not  call  for  their  appearance  upon 
the  surface.  After  being  dyed  in  the  skein  the  yarn  is  wound  upon 
spools,  and  in  the  weaving  process  every  color  is  drawn  continuously 
into  the  warp,  each  being  merely  buried  from  sight  when  it  is  not  needed. 
They  are  in  the  body  of  the  carpet,  which  is,  therefore,  termed  body 
Brussels. 

With  tapestry  and  velvets  it  is  otherwise.  The  yarn  is  not  dyed  in 
the  skein,  but  is  printed  in  spots,  each  thread  being  first  red,  then  blue, 
then  ecru,  and  so  on. 

(68) 


The  History  of  a  Carpet  Roll  69 

Body  Brussels  and  Wiltons  are  woven  alike,  except  that  the  series 
of  loops  or  corrugations  which  are  seen  along  the  surface  of  the  body 
Brussels  are  slit  at  the  top  in  the  case  of  the  Wilton. 

The  warp  of  cotton,  jute  or  linen,  which  forms  the  backing  of  the 


WEAVING  THE  CARPET 

Thousands  of  threads  are  controlled  by  this  marvel  of  machinery  to  obtain  the 
beautiful  carpet  designs. 


carpet,  is  made  in  a  great  machine  which  not  only  winds  the  many  threads 
from  the  spools  to  the  beam,  but  which  gives  them  a  special  treatment  to 
prepare  them  for  their  specific  purpose.  They  first  pass  through  a  starchy 
mixture  to  give  them  the  desired  stiffness,  are  at  the  same  time  colored, 
then  pass  between  drums  and  are  dried,  and  finally  are  wound  upon  the 
beam.  The  stiffening  or  sizing  preparation  varies  with  each  mill,  each 
manufacturer  having  his  own  particular  formula.  The  warp  thus  pre- 
pared, and  the  woolen  yarn,  make  up  the  carpet  fabric. 

Though  the  process  by  which  the  infinite  number  of  beautiful 
designs  are  obtained  seems  at  first  very  mysterious,  the  general  principle 
is  in  reality  not  difficult  to  understand  after  a  little  study  of  the  carpet 
loom.  The  various  colored  yarns  are  drawn  slowly  from  the  thousand 


7° 


The  History  of  a  Carpet  Roll 


spools  in  the  creel  frame,  as  the  fabric  is  woven.  By  the  operation  of 
the  Jacquard  machine  the  yarns  needed  to  make  the  coloring  of  the 
design  in  that  particular  part  of  the  fabric  are  drawn  up  until  there  is  a 
space  between  them  and  the  other  yarns,  which  are  not  to  appear  in 
this_spqt  in  the  surface,  and  are,  therefore,  not  needed.  The  shuttle  now 
passes  between,  so  that  there  appear  on  the  surface — that  is,  on  the 
pattern — only  such  colors  as  were  up  at  that  moment. 

Next  these  threads  are  depressed  and  others  are  raised  to  appear  on 
the  surface  as  the  shuttle  flies  beneath  them. 

But  perhaps  the  most  wonderful  part  of  the  loom  is  the  Jacquard 
attachment.  On  top  of  the  loom  above  the  weaver's  head  is  a  box-like 
arrangement  with  innumerable  needles,  not  unlike  in  appearance  to  a. 
typewriter  with  its  long  shanks  of  wire  operating  the  keys. 


A  VIEW  OF  THE  WEAVING  ROOM 

Here  are  shown  the  frames  containing  the  spools  from  which  the  thousands  of 
strands  are  drawn  into  the  loom. 


These  needles  are  pushed  back  and  forth  by  a  series  of  pasteboard 
cards  punctured  with  holes.  Where  there  are  holes  the  needles  slide 
through,  in  this  way  each  needle  controls  certain  threads  in  the  warp 


The  History  of  a  Carpet  Roll  71 

which  are  picked  up  in  the  weaving  to  make  the  pattern.  These  cards 
are  strung  together  by  laces  in  an  endless  chain  and  each  move  of  the 
shuttle  brings  a  new  card  in  front  of  the  machine  to  be  struck  by  the 
needles. 

Of  course  a  separate  series  of  cards  has  to  be  made  for  each  pattern. 


THE  BURLING  TABLES 
Every  yard  of  the  carpet  is  searched  that  the  smallest  flaw  may  be  righted. 


This  is  done  on  a  card  cutting  machine.  The  pattern  as  drawn  and 
painted  by  the  carpet  designer  is  marked  into  small  squares  of  about  one 
inch,  and  these  are  in  turn  divided  into  about  thirty-six  smaller  squares. 
The  operator  places  a  piece  of  cardboard  in  the  cutting  machine  and 
following  the  squares  on  the  design  punches  a  hole  by  means  of  keys  for 
every  one  of  the  small  squares  that  is  found  in  the  color  portion  of  the 
design. 

In  carpet  weaving,  the  yarn  is  bound  tightly  over  a  wire  which 
extends  crosswise  of  the  fabric.  This  is  then  withdrawn  by  the  machine, 
leaving,  in  the  case  of  body  Brussels  and  tapestries,  the  rows  of  little 
loops  that  are  seen  along  the  surface  of  the  fabric.  In  Wiltons  and 
velvets  we  see,  instead  of  these  corrugations,  innumerable  little  tufts 


72  The  History  of  a  Carpet  Roll 

which  have  come  from  the  slitting  of  these  loops.  The  device  by  which 
this  cutting  is  accomplished,  though  ingenious,  is  extremely  simple.  It 
has  been  explained  that  in  the  case  of  tapestry  and  body  Brussels  the 
wire  over  which  rows  of  loops  extending  across  the  fabric  have  been 
bound,  is  automatically  withdrawn  after  it  has  accomplished  its  work. 
Now,  in  the  weaving  of  Wiltons  and  velvets,  the  end  of  this  wire  is  a  very 
sharp,  tiny  blade,  which,  as  the  wire  is  drawn  speedily  through  the  row 
of  loops,  slits  them  at  the  top.  A  Wilton  is  merely  a  body  Brussels  cut 
in  this  way;  a  velvet  merely  a  tapestry  similarly  treated.  Of  course, 
there  are  minor  points  of  difference,  but  the  general  process  of  weaving 
is  alike  in  the  case  of  the  body  Brussels  and  the  Wilton,  and,  on  the  other 
hand,  of  the  tapestry  and  velvet. 

Now  that  the  carpet  roll  is  woven,  it  goes  to  the  finishing  machinery. 
It  must  be  steamed  to  raise  the  warp  and  sheared  to  crop  it  even.  Here 
again  the  process  differs,  as  the  finishing  is  one  of  the  processes  in  which 
superiority  of  product  may  be  attained. 

Burlers  now  take  the  carpet  in  hand  and  correct  any  imperfections 
in  the  weaving.  It  is  then  given  a  light  shearing,  rolled  by  machinery, 
and  finally  covered  to  await  the  pleasure  of  the  buyer. 

There  has  been  in  recent  years  a  constantly  increasing  trend  of  favor 
toward  rugs,  and  there  has  therefore  been  a  decrease  in  production  of 
carpeting,  the  looms  being  more  and  more  applied  to  the  making  of  rugs. 
There  has  been,  too,  a  tendency  away  from  the  cheaper  kinds  and 
toward  the  better.  In  the  manufacture  of  rugs  in  these  various  grades 
Philadelphia  easily  leads. 

Art  squares,  which  are  ingrain  rugs  woven  to  their  full  width,  are  a 
considerable  part  of  the  total  product,  and  with  the  improvement  in 
designing,  dyeing  and  weaving,  many  beautiful  effects  are  procured  in 
this  class  of  goods.  Constantly  trying  to  improve  its  product,  and  with 
the  present-day  tendency  to  specialize  in  these  various  lines,  Philadelphia 
leads  today,  just  as  it  has  always  led,  in  carpet  production. 


Hosiery  and  Underwear  Making 


HE  average  shopper  who  enters  a  retail  store  and  pur- 
chases a  suit  of  underwear  or  a  pair  of  stockings  has  very 
little  conception  of  the  number  of  intricate  processes 
through  which  these  articles  have  passed  before  being 
placed  on  the  sales  counter.  To  the  person  uninitiated  in 
the  methods  of  modern  manufacture  the  price  at  which 
hosiery  and  underwear  are  sold  nowadays  seems  impossible  in  view  of 
the  numerous  stages  which  are  necessary  in  the  making.  It  is  only  by 
reason  of  the  scientifically  perfected  methods  by  which  the  goods  are 
now  made,  that  prices  can  be  maintained  so  remarkably  low. 

Take,  first,  the  making  of  hosiery.  Ribbed  stockings,  such  as  are 
used  for  children,  are  generally  made  by  a  different  process  from  that 
by  which  many  women's  stockings  are  produced  In  the  making  of  the 
child's  stocking,  the  leg  is  first  knit  by  a  machine  which  has  from  120  to 
240  needles.  The  fewer  the  needles,  the  coarser  the  rib.  The  legs  are 
turned  out  as  one  continuous  leg,  to  be  afterward  cut  apart.  Now 
each  leg  is  placed  upon  another  machine,  which  takes  up  the  knitting 
where  the  other  left  off  and  shapes  the  foot. 

This,  however,  leaves  the  toe  part  open  and  another  machine  closes 
this  over,  finishing  the  work.  The  stockings  are  now  dyed  and  are 
finished  by  passing  them  rapidly  through  a  machine  in  which  a  flame 
singes  off  the  upraised  fibre.  Finally,  drawn  over  flat  wooden  forms, 
they  are  passed  into  finishing  machines  which  dry  and  press  them. 
When  drawn  off  these  forms  they  are  ready  for  packing.  Many  of 
the  finer  grades  of  women's  stockings,  as,  for  instance,  those  of  silk,  are 
what  is  termed  "  flat  -fashioned. "  That  is,  they  are  knit  flat,  and  then 
seamed  up  the  back.  The  machine  fashions*  the  stocking,  changing 
automatically  to  make  the  necessary  changes  in  the  knitting. 

Many  of  the  ordinary  grades  of  women's  stockings,  however,  come 
from  the  machine  in  the  tubular  form,  a  single  machine  doing  all  of  the 
work  except  the  closing  of  the  toe.  There  is  a  new  device,  perhaps  the 
most  marvelous  in  the  whole  range  of  hosiery  manufacture,  which  knits 
as  a  single  piece  a  stocking  that  is  plain  at  the  top  and  lace,  or  open, 

(73) 


74 


Hosiery  and  Underwear  Making 


work  below.  In  the  first  part  of  this  process,  twice  the  number  of  needles 
are  needed  that  are  used  in  the  lace  work.  As  the  laced  part  is  reached 
in  the  process,  the  needles  that  are  not  needed  are  thrown  out  of  action 
automatically.  An  infinite  number  of  lace-work  designs  can  be  ob- 
tained, the  pattern 
being  controlled  by  a 
device  that  is,  in  prin- 
ciple, the  Jacquard  of 
the  loom. 

The  suit  of  under- 
wear must  go  through 
an  even  greater  number 
o  f  operations.  The 
cotton  comes  from  the 
spinners  in  three  forms 
— on  cops,  on  cones  and 
in  skeins.  The  cotton 
on  the  cops  and  cones 
is  generally  in  the 
natural  color,  whereas 
the  skein  cotton  has 
usually  been  bleached 

to  a  pure  white.  Cones,  cops  and  skeins  first  go  to  the  winding 
department.  Here  are  frames  by  which  the  cotton  is  unwound  and  run 
on  bobbins,  which  are  cone-shaped  and  about  twelve  inches  high.  In 
this  shape  they  are  sorted  and  placed  in  bins  until  ready  for  the  knitting 
.  frames. 

In  the  knitting  process  the  identical  stitches  that  were  applied  by 
our  grandmothers'  knitting  needles  are  made  at  a  speed  that  would  have 
seemed  beyond  the  limits  of  possibility  fifty  years  ago.  The  large  knit- 
ting frames  revolve  rapidly,  with  the  bobbins  flying  around  on  top. 
For  some  weights  of  underwear  there  are  eight  bobbins  from  which  the 
cotton  is  unwound  to  be  knit  into  the  fabric  by  the  hundreds  of  tiny 
needles.  The  machines  are  so  constructed  that  worsted  and  cotton  may 
be  incorporated  in  the  same  fabric.  The  thread  from  each  bobbin  is  run 
through  a  guide,  and  this  takes  it  to  the  needles.  The  woven  cloth 
emerges  from  the  bottom  of  the  machine  in  a  continuous  stream.  The 
large  knitting  frames  produce  the  bodies  for  the  garments,  while  on  the 
smaller  ones  the  sleeves  are  made.  These  knitting  frames  are  so  con- 
structed that  they  also  give  shape  to  the  garment,  narrowing  the  weaving 


A  LONG  Row  OF  SEWING  MACHINES 


Hosiery  and  Underwear  Making 


75 


for  the  waist -line,  and  also  changing  the  stitching  on  the  sleeves  for  the 
cuffs.  Furthermore,  they  make  tucking  for  the  bodies  and  skirts  of 
the  garment. 

The  woven  fabric  is  now  taken  to  another  department  where  it  is 
cut  into  the  required  lengths.  There  are,  of  course,  patterns  to  guide  the 
cutters,  and  after  the  garments  and  sleeves  are  cut  to  length  they  are 
given  over  to  the  shape  cutters.  The  latter  work  with  shears  or  huge 
knives  which  fit  in  grooves  in  the  cutting  tables. 

Next  the  garments  go  to  the  assembling  room.  Here  are  wonder- 
ful sewing  contrivances,  known  as  interlocking  machines,  which,  with  a 
speed  of  3,500  stitches  a  minute,  sew  the  various  parts  of  the  garments 
together.  After  the  sleeves  have  been  sewed  to  the  garment,  it  is  ready 
to  receive"  the  trimming  and  fancy  needlework.  One  machine  makes  a 
bar  edging  and  sews  it  on  the  underwear  at  the  same  time.  Endless 


THE  KNITTING  DEPARTMENT 
Here  the  material  which  is  to  be  made  into  underwear  rapidly  assumes  form. 

varieties  of  laces  and  fancy  work  are  used,  many  different  machines 
being  required  for  this  work.  Next  the  facing  is  placed  on  the  vests 
and  drawers,  after  which  the  garment  goes  to  the  finishing  room.  The 
bottoms  are  sewed  on  and  the  button  holes  made,  all  by  machinery. 
One  contrivance  cuts  and  makes  the  button  holes  automatically  and 


76 


Hosiery  and  Underwear  Making 


shapes  any  size  button-hole  from  one-eighth  of  an  inch  to  an  inch  and 

a  half.     Another  ingenious  steel  worker  covers  the  seams.     A  corps  of 

girls,  known  as  tapers,  with  lightning  speed,  next  insert  the  tape  through 

the  edging  on  the  garment. 

The  underwear  is  now  completed  and  has  only  to  be  pressed  before 

being  placed  in  boxes 
for  shipment.  Four 
different  k  i  nd  s  of 
presses  are  used,  ac- 
cording to  the  nature 
of  the  underwear.  In 
one,  the  garments  are 
placed  between  heated 
steel  plates,  about  a 
yard  square.  Then 
there  is  the  mangle  sys- 
tem, in  which  the  gar- 
ment is  run  on  a  large 
heated  cylinder.  The 
smaller  headed  cylin- 
der used  by  laundries 
is  employed  on  some 
kinds  of  underwear. 

Finally,  there  is  the  old-fashioned  sad-iron  for  delicate  tucks  and  laces. 

The  garments  are  now  thoroughly  examined  and  placed  in  boxes  ready 

for  shipment. 

Philadelphia  has  150  factories  in  this  line,  their  combined  product 

amounting  to  $15,000,000  in  value  annually.     All  grades  of  hosiery, 

in  both  silk  and  cotton,  are  made,  the  equality  being  unexcelled,  and  in 

some  line  unequaled. 


BUSY  HANDS  IN  THE  CUTTING  DEPARTMENT 


.     r- 


The  New  Way  in  Tapestry-Making 


INETY-FIVE  per  cent,  of  all  American-made  tapestries  are 
the  product  of  Philadelphia  mills,  a  thousand  looms  engaged 
in  this  important  branch  of  the  textile  industry  turning  out 
annually  goods  of  the  value  of  $10,000,000.  Not  only  are 
Philadelphia  manufacturers  capable  of  equaling  the  finest 
imported  upholstery  goods,  but  they  have,  by  constant 
improvement  in  methods  of  production,  placed  these  fabrics,  so  beautiful 
in  design  and  color  effects,  and  combining  art  with  utility,  easily  within 
the  reach  of  the  average  American  housekeeper. 


THE  DYEING  ROOM 

Huge  power  dyers  in  background  contrasted  with  older  methods  of  hand  work 
used  for  only  small  lots. 

It  was  here  that  the  use  of  cotton  in  tapestries  began  in  America, 
and  there  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  this  branch  of  manufacture  will 
drift  to  other  centres.  On  the  contrary  the  tendency  has  been  toward 

(77) 


78  The  New  Way  in  Tapestry-Making 

greater  centralization,  because  of  the  paramount  advantages  which  the 
city  affords.  It  is  of  prime  importance  that  the  manufacturer  of  uphol- 
stery goods  should  be  near  his  yarn  market.  Silk,  linen,  cotton  and  jute 
yarns  are  all  used,  from  the  very  coarse  grades  to  the  very  finest,  and  this 


SPLITTING  THE  YARN 
Here  is  seen  one  of  the  early  processes  in  the  making  of  the  warp. 

supply  must  be  drawn  from  all  parts  of  the  world.  Yet  the  manufacturer 
who  is  close  to  the  market  where  he  can  procure  the  greater  part  of  his 
supply  has  a  decided  advantage  over  the  competitor. 

There  is  another  reason,  equally  important,  why  Philadelphia  has 
enjoyed  the  monopoly  of  this  branch  of  manufacture.  Weavers  of  the 
highest  class  only  may  be  used  in  the  weaving  of  upholstery  goods,  and 
even  these  must  be  specially  trained.  As  Philadelphia  is  the  greatest 
textile  centre,  manufacturers  have  the  advantage  of  being  situated 
where  they  can  make  their  selection  from  among  weavers  of  the  very 
highest  skill. 

As  the  upholsterer  uses  no  less  than  150  different  grades  of  yarn,  it 
would  obviously  be  impossible  for  him  to  do  his  own  spinning.  This 
raw  material,  therefore,  conies  to  the  mill  as  yarn,  and  first  goes  to  the 


The  New  Way  in  Tapestry-Making  79 

dyehouse.  There  are  here  huge  machines,  closed  in  on  all  sides,  in  each 
of  which  is  a  revolving  frame-like  arrangement  with  cross  pieces.  The 
yarn  is  hung  on  these  cross  bars  and  the  frame  slowly  turns,  dipping  the 
yarn  in  the  dyeing  fluid.  Each  of  these  frames  has  a  capacity  of  many 


WEAVING  THE  FABRIC 

An  unbroken  vista  of  looms  that  weave  thousands  of  separate  threads  into  the 
intricate  design  of  the  finished  pattern. 

thousands  of  pounds,  and  a  ton  of  yarn  can  be  dyed  as  quickly  as  the 
old-fashioned  kettles  could  give  the  required  color  to  one-sixth  the 
amount.  In  no  branch  of  the  textile  industry  is  a  greater  variety  of 
color  used;  and  in  these  yarns,  as  they  come  from  the  dyehouse,  there 
is  seen  the  greatest  range  of  shade  and  tint  imaginable. 

Now  the  yarn  goes  to  the  drying  machine — a  huge  wooden  box 
about  fifty  feet  long  and  ten  feet  in  height — which  takes  the  wet  yarn  in 
at  one  end  and  turns  it  out  at  the  other,  clean  and  dry  and  ready  for  the 
loom.  The  temperature  of  the  drying  room  is  maintained  automatically 
close  to  1 80  degrees  Fahrenheit.  The  yarn  used  for  the  warp  is  dried 
on  huge  heated  cylinders,  known  as  cams.  These  rollers  slowly  revolve 
and  the  yarn  is  pressed  between  them  and  at  the  same  time  dried  by 
the  heat  from  within. 

After  the  yarn  has  been  dyed  and  dried  it  is  taken  to  the  vast  store- 
rooms and  kept  there  until  required.  The  storerooms  contain  row 


8o 


The  New  Way  in  Tapestry-Making 


after  row  of  big  bins  filled  to  the  brim.  The  yarn  for  the  warp  is  wound 
on  spools  and  placed  on  the  beaming  frame  in  regular  rows,  similar  to  a 
checker-board.  Then  the  threads  from  the  various  spools  are  brought 
together  in  a  comb-like  arrangement  called  a  reed  and  wound  about 
another  large  wooden  frame.  All  of  the  different  colors  are  arranged 
by  the  operator  as  they  are  to  appear  in  design.  Sometimes  there  are 
as  many  as  10,000  ends  or  threads  in  a  pattern  and  it  takes  the  oper- 
ator perhaps  two  or  three  days  to  arrange  these  before  the  warp  can  be 
wound  on  the  beams.  After  the  warping  the  beams  are  taken  to  the 
weaving  rooms  and  placed  in  the  looms. 


THE  BURLING  ROOM 
Not  the  tiniest  defect  escapes  the  eye  of  these  skilled  workers. 


The  woven  fabric  is  now  carried  from  the  looms  to  a  finishing  room, 
where  corps  of  burlers  take  out  the  knots  and  add  the  finishing  touches. 
It  is  also  run  through  a  finishing  machine,  which  smooths  the  surface 
and  cleans  it  thoroughly.  Now  the  tapestry  is  complete  and  goes  to 
the  shipping  room.  In  a  single  establishment  there  pass  through  this 
room  as  many  as  300  different  designs,  and  all  grades,  from  cotton  to 
pure  silk. 


The  Art  of  the  Metal  Worker 


UALITY  is  something  that  is  frequently  beneath  the  surface. 
The  proof  of  the  pudding  is  in  the  eating;  indeed,  the  pud- 
ding might  have  a  very  pleasing  exterior  and  a  sodden 
interior.  The  truth  of  this  is  strongly  illustrated  in  the 
manufacture  of  hardware  in  which,  as  indeed  in  virtually 
all  lines  of  metal  working,  Philadelphia  shops  excel. 
Long  experience  and  great  facilities  of  manufacture  mean,  first  of 
all,  the  gathering  together  of  experts  in  all  the  various  branches  of  the 
industry,  every  step  of  the  way  from  the  digging  of  the  ore  down  to  its 
final  usage.  It  is  this  experience,  this  equipment,  which  makes  it  pos- 
sible for  the  Philadelphia  hardware  manufacturer  and  makers  of  many 
other  lines  of  metal  goods  to  turn  out  a  product  which  is  a  little  better 
than  that  of  their  competitors. 

The  quality  does  not  always  show  on  the  surface;  yet  it  is  there. 
Philadelphia  manufacturers  of  hardware  set  the  standard  of  production 
for  the  manufacturers  of  the  entire  country.  So  far  as  it  relates  to  many 
lines,  this  statement  would  rest  unchallenged.  It  is  true  in  virtually  all 
Philadelphia  hardware  productions.  In  saws,  of  course,  Philadelphia 
easily  leads,  and  it  leads  also  in  hammers  and  hatchets,  lawn  mowers, 
shears,  files,  hardware  specialties  such  as  meat  grinders,  and  in  a  num- 
ber of  other  lines  of  what  is  commonly  termed  "shelf  hardware.  " 

In  the  manufacture  of  saws,  its  output  is  of  great  variety,  from  the 
smallest  hand  saw  to  the  greatest  band  saw.  Probably  very  few  people 
have  ever  thought  that  a  saw  may  cost  as  much  as  $12,000;  but  this  is 
actually  the  case ;  and  in  the  great  saw  works  which  have  made  Phila- 
delphia unquestionably  the  leader  in  this  line  of  production  not  one  alone, 
but  several  such,  have  actually  been  made.  These  particular  saws, 
100  inches  in  diameter,  are  used  for  the  cutting  of  marble.  Their  edges 
are  set  with  removable  teeth,  which  are  carborundum  diamonds,  each  of 
which  costs  several  dollars.  As  these  are  destroyed  they  may  be  removed, 
and  by  a  very  simple  dental  operation  a  new  tooth  may  be  inserted. 
There  are  also  to  be  seen  in  these  great  works,  band  saws  150  feet  long, 
6  (81) 


82 


The  Art  of  the  Metal  Worker 


designed  to  run  at  the  rate  of  a  mile  a  minute.     In  saws  for  lumbering 

and  all  conceivable  purposes,  Philadelphia  production  absolutely  leads. 

And  this  is  true  in  many  other  lines  of  hardware.     The  hammers 

and  hatchets  made  here  lead  in  their  lines.     There  are  no  finer  shears 


SHAPING  THE  METAL 
At  these  benches  and  lathes  the  various  parts  of  the  fixture  are  made. 

than  are  made  in  Philadelphia,  while  in  household  novelties  and  shelf 
hardware  the  output  of  the  Philadelphia  shops  is  absolutely  unexcelled. 
It  is  the  determination  of  the  manufacturer  to  make  the  best  article  of 
its  kind  rather  than  the  cheapest,  that  has  given  the  city's  hardware 
production  this  reputation  for  quality. 

A  single  illustration  will  give  an  idea  of  the  care  with  which  every 
part  is  made.  The  Philadelphia  make  of  such  specialties  as  meat  grinders 
has  gained  a  high  reputation,  and  this  is  because  the  greatest  precaution 
is  taken  to  test  to  the  utmost  every  blade  that  is  used.  These  blades 
come  to  the  factory  as  steel  castings,  and  are  first  put  through  a  case- 
hardening  process;  that  is,  packed  in  boxes  in  a  mixture  of  bone  dust, 
leather  and  salt,  they  are  baked  in  ovens  for  three  hours,  after  which 
they  are  cooled  in  oil.  This  gives  the  desired  hard  surface  but  leaves  the 
interior  softer,  thus  insuring  strength. 


The  Art  of  the  Metal  Worker  83 

But  not  content  with  care  in  this  hardening  process,  the  Philadel- 
phia maker  subjects  every  individual  blade  to  a  crushing  strain  far 
beyond  any  it  will  ever  meet  in  actual  service.  Three  or  four  per  cent, 
of  the  blades  crack  under  the  strain ;  but  those  which  withstand  it  are 
certain  to  meet  all  requirements  that  will  ever  be  placed  upon  them. 
Of  course,  this  method  of  hardening  is  not  that  used  in  many  lines  of 
hardware  as,  for  instance,  saws,  which  are  hardened  and  tempered  in  oil. 

In  many  lines  of  metal  specialties  the  character  of  product  is  simi- 
larly high.  In  gas  fixtures,  for  instance,  the  output  is  unexcelled  by 
that  of  any  other  city;  while  in  ecclesiastical  metal  work  such  as  cruci- 
fixes, candelabra,  censers  and  the  like,  both  design  and  quality  are  of 
very  high  order.  In  both  these  latter  lines  of  manufacture  the  process 
is  the  same. 


FITTING  THE  PARTS 
Skilled  workmen  here  do  the  wo  k  which  makes  the  perfectly  adjusted  fixture. 


The  metal  comes  to  the  factory  in  the  shape  of  castings,  sheet  metal, 
rods  and  tubing.  It  first  goes  to  the  fitters,  who  make  it  of  the  right 
length  and  size  for  the  fixtures.  Then  it  is  taken  up  by  the  assemblers, 
who  put  the  parts  together.  Now  comes  the  dipping  process ;  the  metal 


The  Art  of  the  Metal  Worker 


being  plunged  in  an  acid  bath  to  rid  it  of  grease  and  foreign  matter. 
Then  it  is  plated  and  then  polished.  It  is  in  the  polishing  department 
that  it  takes  the  finish  which  must  afterward  be  made  permanent  and 
which  contributes  so  much  to  the  appearance  of  the  fixture.  The  polish- 
ing is  done  upon 
wheels  of  cloth  and 
the  metal  passes  from 
one  to  another  of 
these ;  the  first,  hard ; 
the  next,  softer,  and 
the  next  still  softer. 
Though  the  first  of 
these  wheels  is  merely 
circular  sheets  of  soft 
muslin  laid  together, 
the  rapid  rate  at 
which  it  revolves— 
2,700  revolutions  a 
minute,  gives  to  even 
this  soft  material  a 
hard  surface  that  pol- 
ishes down  the  metal 
and  rubs  out  the 
roughness.  Next 
comes  the  coloring 
wheel  which  brings 
the  metal  to  the  right 
color  and  finally  the 
soft  finishing  wheel,  of 
canton  flannel,  which 
HOLLOW  SPINNING  merely  rubs  it  gently. 

The  metal  parts  are 
brushed  with  lacquer  to  fix  the  color  and  prevent  tarnishing. 

In  the  turning  and  shaping  of  the  many  parts  a  high  degree  of  skill 
is  required.  There  is,  for  instance,  the  hollow  spun  work  by  which  a 
disc  of  fine  metal  is  made  into  the  shape  of  a  globe  or  a  vase.  The  disc 
is  placed  upon  a  lathe  and  revolved  at  high  speed.  The  skilled  work- 
man, at  whose  hand  is  a  varied  assortment  of  tools,  presses  upon  the 
revolving  disc  with  first  one  and  then  another,  gradually  molding  it  to 
the  desired  shape. 


The  Short  Cut  in  Furniture-Making 


ORMERLY,  and  not  so  many  years  ago,  the  cabinetmaker 
made  furniture,  and  the  machine  supplemented  his  work; 
nowadays  the  machine's  the  thing,  while  man  puts  on  the 
finishing  touches.  The  price  has  been  cut  in  two,  and  the 
furniture  is  better.  That  is,  the  furniture  is  better  if  in 
none  of  the  various  stages  there  is  slighting,  and  if,  through- 
out, the  right  material  has  been  used.  There  is  no  stage  at  which  a  fine 
piece  of  furniture  may  be  hurried  on  its  way  through  the  factory.  It 
feels,  even  in  its  early  stages,  the  dignity  that  is  in  keeping  with  its 
finished  appearance  of  quality,  and  it  will  permit  no  infringement  upon 
that  dignity.  Care  in 
furniture  making  must 
begin  with  the  seasoning 
of  the  wood,  and  must 
be  carried  through  to 
the  shipping  room. 

All  the  various  kinds 
of  wood  that  enter  into 
the  making  of  fine  fur- 
niture— oak,  plain  and 
quartered,  ash,  poplar, 
chestnut,  birch,  maple, 
mahogany,  etc.  —  are 
"shipped  dry"  to  the 
factory.  This  is  a  term 
which  means  that  they 
are  shipped  about  half  EARLY  STEPS  IN  THE  PROCESS 

dry.     If  they  were  sent 

direct  from  the  saw  there  would  be  excessive  freights,  and  to  avoid  this 
half  the  sap  is  dried  out  before  the  lumber  is  passed  to  the  factory. 

Here  it  is  first  of  all  seasoned.     The  loaded  cars  are  run  direct  into 
the  dry  kiln,  where,  beneath  them  are  steam  pipes  which  heat  the  room 
to  about  140  degrees,  drying  out  the  last  of  the  sap.     It  would  be  impos- 
ts) 


86 


The  Short  Cut  in  Furniture-Making 


sible  to  season  the  lumber  thus  as  soon  as  it  comes  from  the  saw.  Such 
a  process  would  mean  that  the  wood  would  not  dry  out  with  the  same 
degree  of  rapidity  on  the  inner  part  as  on  the  surface,  and  "hollow  horn- 
ing," that  is,  the  cracking  up  or  checking  of  the  inner  wood,  would  result. 
These  cracks  within  would  not  appear  until  the  wood  was  cut. 


DOVETAILING  AND  RABBITING 
This  is  some  of  the  machinery  which  nowadays  expedites  furniture  making. 


From  the  kiln  the  lumber  goes  to  a  room  where  the  furniture  is 
blocked  out  in  the  rough — that  is,  it  is  cut  to  length  and  ripped  to  width. 
Here  too  it  is  glued,  if  stock  wider  than  the  natural  width  of  the  board 
is  desired,  as,  for  instance,  for  the  top  of  a  sideboard.  In  this  room,  also, 
are  chiselled  by  machine  the  little  projections,  called  tenons,  which  are 
to  fit  into  the  mortised  sections  of  other  parts  in  order  to  fasten  the 
piece  together.  Here,  too,  is  a  machine  which  does  away  with  the  old 
hand  planing,  scraping  and  sandpapering  process.  This  machine  has  as 
its  principal  element  three  sandpaper  covered  drums.  These  as  they 
revolve  rapidly  bring  the  piece  to  a  smooth  surface.  This  machine  takes 
the  place  of  twenty  men.  One  shortcoming  of  this  device  is  that,  as 
the  sandpaper  moves  always  in  the  one  direction  over  the  surface  of 
the  wood,  it  is  apt  to  raise  the  fibre  in  that  direction.  So  it  is  supple- 


The  Short  Cut  in  Furniture-Making  87 

mented  by  another  sandpapering  machine  which  gives  the  forward  and 
backward  stroke  of  the  hand  process. 

The  most  interesting  of  these  early  processes  and  one  in  which  the 
greatest  care  must  be  exercised,  is  the  veneering.  Very  little  solid  furn- 
iture is  made  today,  veneered  furniture  taking  its  place  for  two  reasons. 
One  is  that  if  solid  furniture  were  made  of,  for  instance,  mahogany,  the 
supply  of  this  not  too  plentiful  wood  would  shortly  become  exhausted. 
The  second  reason  is  that  veneered  furniture  is  better.  If  a  piece  of 
solid  furniture  is  subjected  to  extremes  of  climate  it  is  very  likely  to 
crack.  For  instance,  if  it  were  left  for  a  time  in  a  damp  room  which 
should  afterward  be  heated,  the  wood  would  first  swell  and  then  shrink 
under  the  heat,  and  cracking  might  result.  Furniture  properly  veneered 
cannot  possibly  crack. 

The  veneer  is  simply  thin  slices  of  wood,  peeled  off  thirty  to  the  inch. 
If  but  one  layer  were  used,  or  if  the  work  of  veneering  were  slighted 


IN  THE  FINISHING  DEPARTMENT 
Here  the  furniture  begins  to  take  its  high  appearance. 

anywhere,  it  would  be  useless.  But  upon  the  top  of  a  core,  say  of  chest- 
nut, two  thicknesses  of  veneer  are  laid,  the  grain  of  one  running  in  one 
direction,  that  of  the  other  in  the  opposite  direction.  The  bottom  of  the 
core  is  similarly  treated,  so  that  the  solid  wood  is  thus  overlaid  with  four 


88  The  Short  Cut  in  Furniture-Making 

thicknesses.  This,  if  done  properly,  absolutely  prevents  warping  and 
cracking,  in  either  the  core  or  the  veneer.  Solid  furniture  possesses  one 
advantage.  If  it  is  scarred,  as  by  the  dropping  of  a  heavy  object  upon 
it,  it  may  be  smoothed  out  and  refinished.  Veneer,  being  very  thin, 
cannot  be  so  treated,  but  its  other  advantages  overweigh  this  solitary 
one  that  the  solid  piece  of  furniture  possesses.  The  veneer  must  be 
laid  on  with  the  utmost  care  or  trouble  will  follow.  The  surface  is  first 
covered  with  glue  and  then  it  is  laid  upon  the  core.  The  two  are  finally 
subjected  to  great  pressure  in.  order  to  lay  the  surface  smooth  and  force 
out  the  excess  of  glue. 

Supplementing  the  main  process  in  this  early  part  of  the  work  are 
machines  which  do  special  work  upon  particular  parts.  These  are 
moulding  machines  to  fashion  the  edges,  jointers  to  bring  all  four  sides  of 
a  square  part  to  exact  right  angles  with  adjoining  sides,  planers  and 
similar  machines.  In  another  department  the  more  highly  ornamental 
parts  are  carved.  Tools  that  turn  at  the  rate  of  9,000  revolutions  a 
minute  touch  here  and  there  the  surface  of  the  wood,  held  by  an  expert 
carver,  and  the  desired  pattern  is  speedily  brought  out. 

All  these  parts  must  now  be  assembled,  a  process  of  great  rapidity 
under  the  new  method.  Glue  is  laid  over  the  tenons  and  over  the  sur- 
faces of  the  mortised  parts,  and  the  various  pieces  are  fitted  together 
Then  the  whole  is  placed  in  a  large  clamp,  and,  with  the  throw  of  a  lever, 
the  maker  brings  sufficient  pressure  to  bring  all  parts  snugly  together. 
Four  strokes  of  the  mallet  drive  down  the  uprights  so  that  they  will  set 
true,  and  the  process  is  over. 

Then  comes  the  finishing.  The  filler,  a  combination  of  oil  and 
pulverized  stone,  is  first  rubbed  into  the  grain.  This  fills  the  pores  and 
gives  a  hard  surface  that  will  not  absorb  varnish.  The  surface  is  now 
sandpapered  and  three,  perhaps  four,  coats  of  varnish  are  to  be  applied. 
Then  the  polishing  is  done  with  pumice  and  water,  or,  in  some  cases, 
pumice  and  oil. 

All  this  means  furniture  of  high  character  that  will  stand  wear  and 
still  keep  its  fine  appearance.  Furniture  making  of  the  inferior  sort 
has  been  drifting  in  recent  years  toward  the  cheaper  labor  markets,  while 
high-grade  production  still  continues  to  characterize  the  factories  sit- 
uated in  the  better  labor  centres.  All  the  output  of  the  Philadelphia 
factories  is  of  high  grade,  while  in  some  lines  its  merit  and  artistic  beauty 
are  unexcelled. 


From  Pulp  Mill  to  Book  Shelf 

T  is  but  natural  that  a  city  which  saw  its  first  printing  press 
as  early  as  1686,  four  years  after  the  first  English  settlement 
was  made  in  the  colony,  and  which  has  always  felt  pro- 
foundly the  influence  of  Franklin,  should  have  carried  the 
art  of  printing  and  publishing  to  a  very  high  degree  toward 
perfection.  In  1743  the  first  bible  printed  in  the  United 
States,  except  for  those  which  were  printed  in  the  Indian  language,  was 


STAMPING  DEPARTMENT 

In  the  foreground  is  shown  how  book  covers  are  made  by  machinery.     In  the 
stamping  department  they  are  then  embossed  in  gold  and  colored  inks. 


turned  out  from  the  press  of  Christopher  Sauer  in  Germantown.  The 
first  daily  paper  in  the  United  States  was  established  here  in  1 7  84 .  Frank- 
lin attempted  a  publication  of  magazines  and  other  periodicals  as  early 

(89) 


From  Pulp  Mill  to  Book  Shelf 


as  1741;  and  in  1810  it  was  estimated  that  there  were  here  printed 
annually  half  a  million  volumes. 

Not  only  does  Philadelphia  to-day  hold  a  high  place  in  the  book  pub- 
lishing trade,  but  it  is  also  a  centre  for  fine  commercial  printing,  such  as 

catalogues,  announcements, 
circulars  and  booklets  of  all 
kinds.  Besides  its  hundreds 
of  small  printing  establish- 
ments it  has  250  large 
plants,  the  aggregate  annual 
payroll  of  which,  in  the 
mechanical  department 
alone,  is  $2,500,000.  These 
250  printing  plants  do  a 
business  approximating 
$10,000,000  a  year.  This 
requires  special  varieties  of 
type,  special  presses  and 
facilities  for  the  selection  of 
high  grade  papers.  As  the 
city  has  large  type  foundries 
its  printers  are  favorably 
located  in  this  respect,  and 
what  is  more  important, 
they  are  constantly  in  an 
atmosphere  of  good  taste  in 
the  matter  of  printing.  The 
customer  of  the  Philadelphia 
printer  has  been  educated 
to  get  the  right  sort  of 

TYPE  SETTING  MACHINES  printing,  and  to  insist  upon 

Under  the  manipulation  of  the  operator  these      getting  it.   It  is  for  this  rea- 
,  machines  automatically  set  the  lines  and  cast          SQn  ^      ^  wofk  done  b 

them  in  metal,  ready  for  pnntmg.  *-»...«.*.•  .    « 

Philadelphia  commercial 

printing  establishments  is  known  for  high  character  throughout  the 
country. 

It  is  not  generally  known  to  the  reading  public  that  the  largest 
establishment  in  America,  owned  and  operated  by  a  private  company, 
for  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  bibles  of  all  kinds  is  situated  in  Phila- 
delphia,''and  that  there  is  no  city  where  as  many  bibles  are  printed, 


From  Pulp  Mm  to  Book  Shelf  91 

bound  and  shipped  by  one  establishment.  There  are  here  issued  by  one 
house  a  half-million  bibles  yearly,  and  by  three  Philadelphia  houses 
combined  there  are  nearly  a  million  copies  manufactured  every  year. 
There  is  no  city  in  the  United  States  where  a  purchaser  can  have  an 
opportunity  to  make  so  fine  a  selection  as  here,  more  than  500  styles, 
differing  in  type,  size  of  text  page  and  kind  of  binding,  being  published. 

Books  for  children,  which  are  known  in  the  trade  as  juvenile  books, 
are  the  largest  sellers  in  the  book  trade,  and  the  publishers  of  the  most 
extensive  line  of  these  are  found  in  Philadelphia.  It  is  estimated 
that  more  than  a  million  copies  a  year  of  juvenile  and  other  popular 
books  are  published  and  manufactured  in  Philadelphia  alone.  Besides 
these,  Philadelphia  publishers  are  noted  for  the  books  brought  out  in 
beautiful  bindings,  handsome  illustrations  and  popular  styles. 

In  few  lines  of  industry  has  there  been  so  great  a  development  of 


•  SEWING  DEPARTMENT 

After  the  sheets  of  a  book    are   assembled  they  are   brought  to  the  machines 
and  sewed  with  thread  and  silk. 


delicate  and  intricate  machinery  to  expedite  process.  At  every  corner 
in  the  making  of  a  book  we  find  machines  of  the  most  seemingly  involved, 
yet  really  simple,  character.  Take,  as  an  illustration,  the  type-setting 
process.  The  old  hand  setting  process  is,  of  course,  out  of  date  so  far 


92  From  Pulp  Mill  to  Book  Shelf 

as  what  is  termed  "straight  composition"  is  concerned.  Even  the 
linotype,  which  is  a  marvel  of  ingenuity,  is  rivalled  in  this  class  of  work 
by  an  even'>more  intricate  machine  termed  the  "monotype."  The 
linotype  casttrs  solid  line  of  metal,  after  the  operator  has  called  down 


GILDING  ROOM 

The  books  are  clamped  in  these  great  vises  and  the  gold  leaf  is  rubbed  into  the 
edges  by  hand. 

his  line  of  matrices  by  pressing  upon  the  letters  of  his  keyboard.  The 
monotype,  a  more  recent  invention,  casts  each  letter  separately,  setting 
it  up  as  it  is  cast.  In  this  process  a  record,  somewhat  similar  to  that 
which  is  seen  in  self -play  ing  piano  devices,  is  first  made  by  an  operator 
who  works  upon  a  keyboard  resembling  an  enlarged  typewriter  key- 
board. As  he  touches  the  keys  the  ribbon  of  paper  is  punctured.  When 
this  record  is  made  it  is  taken  to  the  monotype  machine.  Here  the 
little  punctures  in  the  ribbon  govern  the  movement  of  a  small  plate  of 
matrices  into  which  the  type  is  cast. 

Other  machines  of  almost  as  marvelous  intricacy  are  to  be  seen. 
There  is,  for  instance,  an  ingenious  device  which  makes  the  covers  or 
cases  of  the  books.  The  operator  feeds  in  at  one  end  a  sheet  of  cloth. 
This  is  gummed  by  the  machine,  and  as  it  moves  forward,  two  pieces  of 
cardboard  move  from  the  opposite  end  of  the  machine  to  meet  it.  At  one 


From  Pulp  Mill  to  Book  Shelf 


93 


operation  these  boards  are  laid  upon  the  paste-covered  cloth,  are  pressed 
down  upon  it,  the  ends  of  the  cloth  are  drawn  over  neatly,  and  the  fin- 
ished case  is  delivered  at  the  side  of  the  machine. 

For  the  smaller  books  as  many  as  seventy-two  pages  are  printed 
in  a  single  sheet — that  is,  in  a  single  form.  For  even  the  larger,  sixteen 
pages  are  printed  at  once.  Great  presses  with  a  self-feeding  device  pick  up 
sheet  by  sheet  and  carry  it  speedily  forward  to  receive  the  impression 
of  the  many  pages.  Some  of  these  presses  print  both  sides  at  once,  and 
in  one  of  the  mechanical  operations  the  paper  is  fed  into  the  press, 
printed,  and  then  cut  before  being  delivered. 

These  sheets,  which  are  termed  "signatures,"  now  go  to  the  folding 
machine,  from  which  they  emerge  folded  to  the  size  of  the  book.  The 
delicate  India  paper  used  for  many  of  the  finer  books,  however,  is  not 
trusted  to  this  rapid  process,  but  is  placed  upon  a  hand  folder.  The 


HAND  STAMPING 
On  these  machines,  raised  work,  such  as  monograms  on  letter  paper  is  done. 


signatures,  placed  in  piles  by  themselves,  are  now  rapidly  assorted  by  an 
operative  who  passes  from  one  pile  to  another,  picking  up  each  in  turn 
and  placing  them  together.  The  book  is  now  assembled.  It  is  then 
pounded  down,  a  process  which  corresponds  to  the  shrinking  to  which 


94  From  Pulp  Mill  to  Book  Shelf 

woolen  fabrics  are  subjected.  Following  this  the  books  are  taken  to 
the  stitching  machine,  which  sews  the  signatures  together.  Indeed,  as 
the  printed  pages  emerge  from  this  machine,  a  dozen  books  may  be 
stitched  together  and  must  afterwards  be  cut  apart. 

The  edges  of  the  books  are  now  trimmed,  after  which  they  are  taken 
to  the  gilding  room.  Here  the  gold  is  applied  to  the  edges.  The  books 
are  placed  in  great  vises,  a  score  or  more  in  each,  and  are  clamped 
tightly  together.  Now,  the  red  ink,  which  underlies  the  gold  on  the 
edges  of  many  of  the  volumes,  is  applied  with  a  brush.  Then  the  gold 
leaf  is  laid  on  by  hand  and  rubbed  in.  The  books  are  now  to  be  rounded. 
While  in  the  ordinary  book  this  rounding  process  is  done  by  machinery, 
in  the  case  of  finer  grades  it  is  done  by  hand.  Deft  workmen  hammer 
the  backs  into  rounded  shape  with  marvelous  speed. 

The  cases  or  covers  of  ordinary  books  are  made  by  machinery. 
Flexible  leather  cases,  on  the  contrary,  are  hand-made  by  skilled  work- 
men only.  The  leather  must  be  beveled  by  hand  and  the  inner  sides 
of  the  rounded  edges  carefully  gathered  and  pressed  into  shape.  The 
gold  lettering  is  now  applied.  Gold  leaf  is  laid  over  the  part  to  be  lettered 
and  the  cover  is  fed  into  the  press,  which  stamps  the  letters.  After  this 
stamping  process  the  gold  leaf  around  the  letters  is  easily  brushed  away, 
leaving  the  gold  only  where  the  die  touched  the  surface.  Glue  is  now 
applied  to  the  two  outer  pages,  and  the  book  is  made  fast  to  its  cover. 
In  the  making  of  ordinary  books  there  is  much  more  machine  work  than 
in  those  of  the  finer  sorts.  Those  bound  in  half-calf  generally  have  much 
hand  work  on  the  covers.  The  tooling,  such  as  the  filigree  work,  which 
is  to  be  seen  on  the  backs  of  half-calf  bound  volumes,  is  a  skilled  hand 
process.  With  a  various  assortment  of  dies  or  tools  the  workmen  stamp 
in  this  design. 


From  Pigment  to  Paint  Pot 

ONCENTRATION  of  the  vast  chemical  industry  in  and  near 
Philadelphia  has  given  special  advantages  to  all  allied 
lines,  notably  the  making  of  drugs  and  pharmaceutical 
preparations  and  the  manufacture  .of  paints. 

Doubtless  the  importance  of  this  centre  in  drug  prepara- 
tions has  been,  to  a  very  important  extent,  influenced  by  the 
fact  that  the  city  has  numerous  and  exceptionally  fine  medical,  pharma- 
ceutical and  dental  colleges.  Products  of  the  Philadelphia  general 
drug  and  drug  manufacturing  houses  have  always  been  recognized  for 
their  purity  and  the  attractive  forms  in  which  they  are  presented.  In 
chemical  productions  of  all  kinds  the  preeminence  of  the  city  is  well- 
known. 

The  manufacture  of  paints  early  assumed  importance  in  Philadel- 
phia. The  representative  houses  in  this  line  of  manufacture  are  the 
oldest  in  the  country,  and  at  the  same  time  the  most  vigorous.  Buyers 
to-day  recognize  Philadelphia -made  colors  as  the  leaders  in  their  line; 
indeed  this  is  the  birthplace,  in  America,  of  White  Leads,  Zincs,  Colors, 
Varnishes  and  Brushes. 

As  the  country  has  increased  in  population  and  in  wealth,  art  and 
decorative  effects  have  come  more  and  more  to  be  sought.  Philadel- 
phia manufacturers  of  colors  have  been  fully  equal  to  the  possibility  of 
this  growth,  and  have  led  in  the  production  of  all  the  latest  forms  of 
painting  and  surfacing  materials  for  the  most  elaborate  effects  in  the 
fine  and  industrial  arts. 

Comparison  of  present  methods  with  those  formerly  employed 
throws  some  light  upon  the  question  as  to  why  prices  at  present  are 
relatively  so  much  lower  than  was  thought  possible  in  earlier  days.  In 
the  manufacture  of  colors,  the  operations  were  mostly  conducted  under 
the  greatest  disadvantages.  The  "batches,"  as  they  are  called,  were 
small;  colors,  to-day,  being  made  by  the  ton  instead  of  by  the  hundred 
pounds  as  in  the  old  days. 

In   the   making   of   chemical   colors,  the  various   ingredients  are 

(95) 


96 


From  Pigment  to  Paint  Pot 


first  prepared  in  great  vats,  the  chemicals  used  being  here  dissolved; 
then  these  are  drawn  together  into  another  separate  vat;  and  this 
process,  which  is  technically  termed  "striking  the  color,"  is  one  of  the 
most  interesting  in  the  industry.  It  may  be  that  none  of  the  ingredients 


PRESSING  COLOR 
Here  the  water  is  expelled  until  the  mass  becomes 


solid  cake. 


was  of  the  color  sought,  yet  in  bringing  them  together  a  chemical  change 
has  resulted  that  produces  the  desired  color,  which  now  slowly  settles 
to  the  bottom  of  the  liquid.  In  order  to  remove  acids  or  other  chemi- 
cals formed  in  the  reactions,  the  top  must  first  be  drawn  off  by  a 
syphon.  Now  water  is  run  in,  and  again  syphoned  off,  and  this 
process,  called  washing,  is  repeated  sometimes  four,  five  or  six  times 
before  the  color  is  freed  from  impurities. 

The  color  is  now  a  soft  mush,  and  in  this  form  goes  to  the  presses. 
Here  the  water  is  pressed  out  through  canvas.  Then  the  cake  is  taken 
to  a  drying  room,  where  the  last  of  the  moisture  is  expelled.  The  dry 
cake  next  goes  to  the  powdering  mill  where  it  is  reduced  to  an  impal- 
pable powder,  when  it  is  ready  for  grinding  in  japan,  oil  or  water,  as 


From  Pigment  to  Paint  Pot 


97 


the  case  may  be.  This  is  done  in  a  buhr-stone  or  an  iron  mill,  the  paint 
being  worked  until  the  color  is  thoroughly  incorporated,  and  until  the 
whole  is  a  fine,  smooth,  butter-like  paste.  Paint  so  ground  is  termed 
in  "paste"  form  to  distinguish  it  from  the  ready -mixed.  There  is  a 
difference,  however,  in  the  consistency,  depending  considerably  upon  the 
temperature  or  season  of  the  year  in  which  it  is  ground  or  sold.  Paint 
manufactured  in  the  winter  time  and  held  over  until  the  summer  will, 
of  course,  be  softer  or  more  mellow  than  when  the  temperature  is  much 
lower. 

The  grinding  of  many  of  the  colors  is  a  very  slow  process.  Coach 
colors,  for  instance,  must  be  absolutely  flat  and  perfect.  In  the  making 
of  these  the  stream,  as  it  comes  from  the  mills,  is  so  fine  as  scarcely  to  be 


GRINDING  COLOR 
In  these  batteries  of  mills  the  dry  powder  is  incorporated. 


seen.     A  mill  may  work  throughout  a  day  and  grind  but  five  pounds  of 
this  paint. 

Mineral  colors  are  made  from  native  ores  or  oxides.     The  mining 
and  preparation  of  these  is  a  separate  business  from  the  preparation  of 

7 


98 


From  Pigment  to  Paint  Pot 


the  paint.  They  come  to  the  manufacturer  ready  to  be  ground;  and 
in  the  grinding,  follow  the  course  of  the  chemical  colors,  being  first 
incorporated  with  the  oil  in  which  they  are  to  be  ground.  There  are 
to  be  seen  in  one  of  these  great  establishments  from  four  to  six  hundred 


VARNISH  BOILING  HOUSE 
The  gums  are  here  boiled  prior  to  being  mixed. 


mills  grinding  material  in  the  various  forms  in  which  it  may  be  required, 
whether  water  colors,  or  oil  colors,  or  coach  colors  in  japan,  or  the  vari- 
ous special  mixings  required  by  different  branches  of  trade. 

The  growth  of  the  ready-mixed  paint  department  of  the  industry 
has  been  enormous  in  the  past  quarter  of  a  century,  mainly  as  the  result 
of  the  dissemination  of  information  by  art  schools  and  through  news- 
paper household  departments  and  magazines.  This,  stimulating  the 
spirit  of  improvement,  has  made  a  large  demand  for  paints  ready  for  use. 
Many  of  the  difficulties  formerly  experienced  by  the  amateur  in  the  use 
of  paints,  was  due  to  inability  to  mix  the  material  in  such  a  way  as  to 
produce  the  desired  results. 

This  difficulty  has  now  been  removed,  and  we  have  paints  in  ready- 


From  Pigment  to  Paint  Pot 


99 


mixed  form  both  for  house  painting  and  for  the  various  uses  on  the 
interior  of  dwellings,  equal  to  anything  that  can  possibly  be  produced 
in  the  qualities  of  durability,  beauty  and  permanency.  In  whatever 
field  the  amateur  desires  to  try  his  hand,  he  has  paints,  varnishes  and 
finishes  ready  to  use. 

In  the  manufacture  of  Ready-Mixed  Paint  the  workman  assembles 
the  base.  Around  him  are  pipes  which  supply  him  with  all  the  neces- 
sary ingredients  for  the  paints.  The  turning  of  one  valve  gives  him 
a  supply  of  oil,  another,  a'  supply  of  turpentine,  benzine,  varnish, 
dryer,  or  whatever  he  may  require  in  making  the  paint  formula  which 
he  has  before  him.  The  exact  amount  needed  of  each  is  turned  into 
the  vat  in  the  mixing  process. 


FIRST  PROCESS  IN  MIXED  PAINT 
Here  the  workman  assembles  the  various  ingredients. 


Varnishes  are  simply  solutions  of  gums  of  hard  or  soft  variety.  The 
vessels  containing  the  gums,  and  the  materials  in  which  they  are  to  be 
dissolved,  are  placed  upon  trucks  so  that  they  can  be  run  over  a  fire, 
which  is  covered  with  a  hood  of  metal  or  brick.  This  process,  which  is 


ioo  From  Pigment  to  Paint  Pot 

the  first  in  varnish  making,  is  very  difficult,  the  qualified  gum  melter 
being  an  important  factor.  When  the  material  is  thoroughly  "cooked," 
it  is  transferred  to  a  mixing  house  where  it  is  incorporated  with  turpen- 
tine, oil,  benzine,  etc.  On  account  of  the  inflammable  nature  of  the 
mixing  material,  this  process  must  be  conducted  at  a  distance  from  the 
boiling  furnaces. 

Proximity  to  the  great  chemical  establishments  of  the  city  is  a  very 
important  advantage  to  the  paint  manufacturer.  To  illustrate  this 
fact,  it  is  only  necessary  to  mention  a  few  of  the  chemicals  that  are  used 
in  the  process.  Yellow  is  made  of  bichromate  of  potash,  with  lead 
salts;  blue,  with  prussiate  of  potash;  green  by  a  combination  of  these 
two ;  reds  are  mostly  products  of  coal  tar,  struck  on  a  lead  oxide  basis ; 
the  finer  lakes,  products  of  cochineal  and  dyes  on  alumina  bases.  All  of 
the  chemicals  used  in  making  these  various  colors  are  to  be  obtained  at 
hand  by  the  Philadelphia  paint  manufacturer.  Then,  too,  he  uses  very 
largely  sulphuric,  acetic  and  nitric  acids,  all  of  which  are  prepared  in 
Philadelphia  in  immense  quantities. 

A  visit  to  ar.y  of  the  works  of  the  Philadelphia  manufacturers  of 
such  goods  is  time  well  spent  by  any  buyer.  Through  having  details 
explained,  he  obtains  a  fuller  appreciation  of  the  advantages  which  the 
manufacturer  possesses,  and  he  can  feel  assured  that  the  fact  that  goods 
originate  in  this  important  center,  where  every  facility  in  the  matter  of 
skilled  labor,  capital  and  other  advantages  are  so  easily  obtainable  and 
liberally  employed,  is  a  guarantee  of  superior  quality  at  the  lowest 
possible  cost. 


' 


THE  name  of  Stetson  has 
always  been  synonymous 
with  the  finest  in  the  pro- 
duction of  men's  hats.  The  Stet- 
son "  Boss  Raw  Edge"  is  the  most 
splendid  soft  hat  manufactured. 
Made  entirely  by  hand  by  a  process 
originated  in  the  Stetson  factory,  it 
is  the  only  hat  that  will  retain  its 
shape  in  all  climates  and  under  the 
hardest  uses  without  the  support  of 
a  binding. 

The  broad  brim  Stetson  is  popu- 
lar in  the  cattle  regions  of  the  West, 
Alaska  arid  ^Mexico,  in  the  moun- 
tains and  plains  of  South  America, 
in  Australia  and  South  Africa.  In 
the  recent  Boer  War  10,000  British 
soldiers  marched  under  the  protec- 
tion of  the  Stetson  cow-boy  hat  of 
the  American  ranch.  It  is  indica- 
tive of  the  high  quality  of  produc- 
tion in  this  factory  that  these  hats 
are  still  in  service. 

For  finish,  style  and  quality  the 


Stetson  stiff  hat  is  as  famous  the 
world  over  as  is  the  soft  hat.  By 
men  of  the  finest  tastes  they  are 
demanded  in  the  shops  of  Paris, 
Monte  Carlo,  Berlin,  Hamburg  and 
London,  as  well  as  in  the  cities  of 
America.  Wherever  found  the 
Stetson  brands  are  a  guarantee  of 
correctness. 

The  Stetson  factory,  complete  in 
all  its  details,  has  become  one  of  the 
points  of  interest  for  foreigners  visit- 
ing this  country.  Tourist  agencies 
have  solicited  the  favor  of  putting 
it  upon  their  list  of  places  to  be  vis- 
ited, with  the  result  that  parties  of 
tourists  are  conducted  through  the 
establishment  at  frequent  inter- 
vals. 

Throughout  the  plant  the  condi- 
tions under  which  employes  work 
are  such  that  the  Stetson  factory  is 
known  to  all  people  interested  in 
welfare  work  as  a  model  for  com- 
fort, safety,  and  healthfulness. 


JOHN  B.  STETSON  COMPANY 

FOURTH    ST.    AND   MONTGOMERY   AVE.  PHILADELPHIA 


The  Whole  Process  of  Book  Making 


I 


M 


AY  be  seen  at  any  time 
in  the  large  and  com- 
modious Winston 
Building  at  1006-1016  Arch 
Street,  Philadelphia,  occupied 
by  THE  JOHN  C.  WINSTON 
COMPANY,  the  Proprietors  and 
Publishers  of  the  "INTERNA- 
TIONAL" line  of  Bibles — the 
largest  line  of  Self-Pronouncing 
Bibles  in  the  world — and  com- 
prising over  500  styles  and  va- 
rieties. 

C.ALSO  PUBLISHERS  OF  TRADE 
BOOKS,  including  the  largest  and 
most  select  line  of  Illustrated 
and  Standard  Books  in  the  best 
bindings,  Modern  Fiction  by  the 

leading  novelists  and  a  choice  line  of  Juvenile  books  by  the  best  writers 
for  children. 

C,  MERCHANTS  VISITING  PHILADELPHIA  ARE  INVITED  to  visit  this  large 
establishment  and  see  the  whole  process  of  book  making.  Descriptive 
catalogs  and  price  lists  describing  their  complete  lines  of  books  and 
Bibles  mailed  upon  application. 

C.THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  EDUCATIONAL  AND  COMMERCIAL  PRINTING 
prints  and  manufactures  high  class  work  of  all  kinds,  including  Catalogs, 
Brochures  and  Authors' 
Editions.  The  Uni- 
versities of  Pennsylva- 
nia and  Princeton, 
Bryn  Mawr  and  Haver- 
ford  Colleges  and  many 
other  leading  institu- 
tions, as  well  as  business 
houses,  avail  them- 
selves of  the  complete 
equipment  necessary 
for  fine  work. 

Estimates 
Cheerfully 
Furnished 

THE   JOHN   C.  WINSTON   COMPANY 

1006-1016   ARCH    STREET,   PHILADELPHIA 


The  Strawbridge  &  Clothier  Business 

As  Importers  of  Fine  Dress  Goods  and  Silks,  we  have  built  up  a  busi- 
ness second  to  none  of  its  kind. 

The  splendid  consideration  enjoyed  by  our  Linen  Department  is  well 
deserved.  Here,  in  Table  Damask,  Napkins,  Fancy  Linens  and  Towels 

is  shown  the  best  exclusive 
line  of  qualities  and  patterns 
on  the  market;  of  these 
goods  we  are  one  of  the 
largest  importers. 

Our  Wash  Goods  and 
White  Goods  Departments 
have  a  strong  hold  on  the 
trade  because  of  the  ex 
tremely  large  variety  shown 
in  exclusive  styles  and 
patterns. 

We  are  also  dealers  in 
Upholstery  Goods,  Lace 
Curtains,  etc.,  in  which 
lines  we  show  the  choice  of 
all  the  best  mills. 

As  manufacturers  of 
Women's  Cloaks,  Suits  and 
Skirts,  we  have  one  of  the 
largest  and  best  equipped 
factories  in  the  United 
States,  where,  with  abund- 
ance of  light  and  fresh  air, 
our  goods  are  manufactured 
in  the  best  of  hygienic  sur- 
roundings, thus  insuring 
honest-made  merchandise  of  the  best  quality,  free  from  contamination. 

Having  earned  an  enviable  reputation  for  placing  only  dependable 
merchandise  on  the  market,  and  also  for  the  most  fair  and  liberal  treatment 
of  the  trade,  it  shall  be  our  aim  to  continue  to  deserve  the  liberal  patronage 
of  the  best  dealers  who  desire  "  goods  that  sell." 


Home  of  the  "Fretz  Fold  well  Umbrellas" 

and   Manufactory  of  Umbrella  and  Parasol  Materials 


THE     Fretz    Manufacturing 
Company   are    makers   of 
Fretz  "Foldwell"  frames, 
ribs,  rods,  furniture,  handles,  silks, 
unions,  etc. 

All  buyers  of  umbrellas  find  it 
profitable  to  first  consult  with  the 
foremost  co-operative  umbrella 
company  on  earth,  situated  in 
Philadelphia — the  birth-place  of 
American  umbrella  making.  This 
means  the  finding  of  many  sur- 
prising values. 

Nowhere  else  would  it  be  possible 
to  find  sufficient  expert  mechanics 
to  build  and  operate  all  the  intri- 
cate automatic  special  machinery 
necessary  to  make  all  parts — um- 


brella wire  and  "Foldwell"  ribs 
and  rods,  brass  furniture,  handles, 
and  to  weave  the  perfect  silks  for 
waterproof  umbrella  covers. 

Xo-day,  our  salesmen  can  only 
visit  the  largest  cities  and  there 
meet  by  appointment  local  buyers 
to  mutual  advantage.  We  build 
all  grades  and  values  that  prove 
profitable  to  all — seller  and  con- 
sumer alike. 

We  are  ready  to   build  15,000 

Fretz  Foldwell"  umbrellas  daily 
and  to  make  all  parts  from  the  raw 
materials  to  finished  product ! 

Write  for  sample  umbrellas ! 
Write  for  sample  cloths  !  Write 
for  catalogue  of  supplies. 


S.  S.  Fretz  Mfg.  Co. 


NEW  YORK  OFFICE 
415  Broadway 


Factory  and  Salesrooms 

PHILADELPHIA 


THE  Art  of  Knitting  and  Crocheting 
continues  its  universal  popularity. 
It  is  a  pastime  which  combines 
profit  with  pleasure.  Machine-made 
garments  do  not  equal  in  softness,  beauty 
and  distinctive  elegance  those  knitted  and 
crocheted  by  hand.  Bitter  experience 
has  taught  the  expert  knitter  and  cro- 
crocheter  to  use  only  the  best  yarns.  No 
matter  how  skilful  she  may  be,  the  fin- 
ished work  will  not  be  satisfactory,  if  the 
yarn  is  not  of  the  highest  grade. 

The  "Fleisher"  Yarns  have  been  on 
the  market  for  many  years,  and  their  ex- 
cellent qualities  have  earned  for  them  a 
national  reputation.     They  are  the  ac- 
knowledged standard  of  excellence,  com- 
bining all  the  qualities  required  by  the 
most  exacting  knitter  or  crocheter — even- 
ness, loftiness,  elasticity.     They  are  dyed 
in  a  full  line  of  colors,  from  the  deep,  rich 
shades  used  for  afghans  to  the  light,  deli- 
cnte  tints  for  infants'  garments.  Through- 
out all  the  processes  of  their  manufacture, 
especial  care  and  attention  are  given,  in 
order  to  produce  perfect  yarns. 
FLEISHER'S  KNITTING  WORSTED 
FLEISHER'S  DRESDEN  SAXONY 
FLEISHER'S  SPANISH  WORSTED 
FLEISHER'S  SPIRAL  YARN 
FLEISHER'S  SHETLAND  ZEPHYR 
P'LEISHER'S  SHETLAND  FLOSS 
FLEISHER'S  GERMANTOWN  ZEPHYR 
FLEISHER'S  SUPERIOR  ICE  WOOL 
FLEISHER'S  CASHMERE  YARN 
FLEISHSR'S  PAMELA  SHETLAND 

The  "Fleisher"  Yarns  will  give  your 
trade  the  best  satisfaction  and  return  a 
good  profit  to  the  retailer.  They  are 
carried  by  nearly  all  of  the  leading  dry 
goods  and  notion  jobbers  in  Philadelphia 
and  throughout  the  country. 


LIST  OF  SPECIALTIES 

Diastos 

Laxative  Salts  of  Fruit 
Lithos  Tablets 
Pine  and  Somnos  Cordial 
Antitoxin  and  Vaccine  Laboratories,  Glenolden,  Delaware  Co.,  Penna 


Diphtheria  Antitoxin 

Analgine 

Bismuth  Formic-Iodide 

Casca-Laxative 


Pre- Digested  Beef 
Salicylos 
Somnos 
Vaccine 


UMBRELLAS    *HO    PARASOLS 


SUPLEE,  REEVE,  WHITING  Co 

SUCCESSORS    TO 
BELKNAP,   JOHNSON    &    POWELL 


UMBRELLAS  AND   PARASOLS 

823-825    FILBERT   STREET.    PHILADELPHIA 

4  3  4-4  3  6-4  3  8    BROADWAY,    NEW  YORK 


Important  Points  of  Interest  in  Philadelphia 


904-906.Chestnut.Street 

We  always  try  to  be 
we  are  looked  upon  as  ; 


United  States  Mint,  17th  and  Spring  Garden  Sts. 
/-5  minutes  from  The  Hoskins  Store 

HE  HOSKINS  STORE  began  thirty-seven  years 
ago  as  a  stationery  shop.  To-day  it  is  a  De- 
partment Store  for  business  men  and  women, 
handling  Stationery,  Engraving,  Printing,  Office 
Furniture  and  Business  Systems. 

Our  buyers  are  always  on  the  alert  for  every  new  crea- 
tion that  interests  the  busy  man  and  woman — we  thereby 
keep  our  customers  thoroughly  up-to-date. 

i  little  in  advance. of  the  times — to  anticipate  them;  and  this  is  why 
i  authority  on  such  articles  as  we  handle,  so  we  feel  safe  in  saying, 
"IF  IT'S  IN  OUR  LINE.  WE  HAVE  IT" 


Office  Furniture  Dept.,  The  Hoskins  Store 

'THE  HOSKINS  STORE  has  the  largest 
•*•  assortment  of  Office  Furniture  and  Sec- 
tional Cases  in  Philadelphia — entire  second 
floor  is  devoted  to  it.  It  is  easy  to  find  here 
exactly  what  you  want  in  design  and  price. 


Business  Systems  Dept.,  The  Hoskins  Store 

PARD  INDEX  AND  VERTICAL  FIL- 

^  ING  SYSTEMS  are  becoming  a  necessary 
part  of  every  business.  Hoskins  Business 
Systems  Department  is  complete.  Suggestions 
and  ideas  are  yours  for  the  asking. 


THE  HOSKINS  'STORE 


904-906  CHESTNUT  STREET 


PHILADELPHIA 


Mr.  Retailer 


T 


1HIS  is  your  propo- 
sition. The  pur- 
chase of  the  best 

possible   line    of    clothing 

at  the  proper  prices.    Our 

proposition  resolves   itself 

into  a  definite  statement 

that  the  Alco  System 

Of  Clothing  for  Men 

and  Young  Men  contains 

all  the  elements  of  qual- 
ity, coupled  with  modest 

pricing  that  is  bound  to 

show  up  when  our  clothes 

are   sold   by   you.      The 

customer   to   whom   you 

sell    one    of    the    Alco 

System  Garments  is 

a  walking  advertisement 
for  your  store.  Our  sales- 
men are  booking  the 

largest  orders  in  our  history.  With  our  increased  facilities  we  shall 
take  good  care  of  this  business.  Where  we  are  not  represented,  ex- 
clusive control  of  the  line  with  helping  advertising  is  offered  to  live 
merchants.  If  we  are  not  showing  you  the  AJco  System  Clothes 
it's  your  business  to  let  us  know  ;  mail  or  wire. 


Arnold,  Louchheim  &  Co. 

MANUFACTORY  AND   MAIN  OFFICES 

Eleventh,  Wood  and  Carlton  Sts.  PHILADELPHIA 

NEW  YORK  CHICAGO  BALTIMORE  ST.  LOUIS 


Philadelphia  a  Good-Clothes  Centre 


SOME  of  the   highest  grade 
garments  for  men  ever  pro- 
duced ready  to  put  on  are 
designed  and  made  in  Phil- 
adelphia.    Nearly  everyone   is  fa- 
miliar with  the  trade-mark  of  A. 
B.    Kirschbaum  &  Company   on 
men's    fine    suits,   topcoats,   rain- 
coats and  the  like. 

The  small  illustration  above 
shows  the  plant,  built  solely  for 
and  completely  occupied  by  the 
Kirschbaum  business. 

It. is  the  largest  clothing  estab- 
lishment in  the  world,  and  one  of 
the  show  places  of  Philadelphia. 
Situated  at  Broad,  Carpenter, 
Washington  and  Watts  Streets, 
next  to  the  beautiful  grounds  of 
the  Ridgway  Library.  Nothing 
has  been  spared  that  money  would 
buy  or  science  provide  to  make 
this  the  cleanest,  most  wholesome 
and  sanitary  clothing  establishment 
in  America.  Every  floor  is  flooded 
with  sunlight  and  pure  air. 
Among  other  interesting  features 


this  concern  has  its  own  electric 
equipment,  its  own  fire  patrol,  its 
own  railway  line  connecting  the 
shipping  rooms  with  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Railroad,  and  a  restaurant 
for  the  employes. 

The  Kirschbaum  business  was 
established  in  1850,  and,  like  many 
another  Philadelphia  institution, 
has  grown  with  the  industrial  de- 
velopment of  the  city,  profiting  by 
the  unusual  manufacturing  advan- 
tages, good  labor,  excellent  ship- 
ping facilities  and  unequalled  posi- 
tion as  a  producing  community. 

It  has  been  said  that  in  Phila- 
delphia the  standard  of  living  is 
higher  and  the  cost  of  living  less 
than  in  any  other  city  in  America. 
One  can  readily  see  how  this  fact 
makes  for  economy  of  manufacture 
as  well  as  quality  of  product.  It 
is  unquestionably  true  that  in  most 
lines  buyers  obtain  here  better 
value  for  the  money  than  in  any 
other  market,  especially  in  articles 
of  every-day  use  and  wear. 


Established  1823  by  the  late  John  B.  Ellison,  Sr. 

JOHN  B.  ELLISON  &  SONS 

Wholesale  Woolens 


AMERICAN  OFFICES 


NEW  YORK 

BALTIMORE      . 
BOSTON     . 
BUFFALO  . 
CHICAGO  . 
ST.  LOUIS. 
PITTSBURG 
CINCINNATI      . 
MINNEAPOLIS  . 
DETROIT  . 
CLEVELAND      . 
WASHINGTON  . 
LOUISVILLE       . 
NEWARK   . 
MILWAUKEE     . 
NEW  ORLEANS 


PHILADELPHIA    BUILDING 

22,  24  and  26  South  Sixth  Street 
13,  15  and  17  S.  Marshall  Street 


FOREIGN  OFFICES 


MONTREAL        . 
HUDDERSFIELD 
PARIS. 
TORONTO  . 
VIENNA       . 
HAMBURG 
SYDNEY      . 
BARCELONA      . 
CAPE  TOWN      . 


Coristine  Building,  10  Vic 

toria  Square 
11  Brittannia  Chambers 

!97  Rue  Des  Petits  Champs, 
7  Cite  Trevise,  7 
Carlan  Building,  54  Bay 
AUSTRIA 
GERMANY 
AUSTRALIA 
SPAIN 
SOUTH  AFRICA 


(180  and  1172  Broadway 

\S.  E.  Cor.  Twenty-eighth  Street 

140  W.  Fayette  Street 

233  Tremont  Building 

Morgan  Building 

1007  and  1008  Hartford  Building 

Missouri  Trust  Building 

McCance  Block 

Neave  Building 

705  Lumber  Exchange  Building 

1032  Majestic  Building 

631  Garfield  Building 

522  Bond  Building 

Keller  Building 

830  Broad  Street 

Wells  Building 

508  L.  &  L.  &  G.  Building 


LONDON   BUILDING 

5,  6  and  7  Golden  Square,  West 
25,  26  and  27  Bridal  Lane,  West 
57,  59  Beak  St.,  Regent  St.,  West 


This  firm  was  established  in  1823,  and  is  the  largest  and  oldest  woolen  house  in  America. 
They  have  warehouses  in  London,  Philadelphia  and  Montreal,  and  sales  offices  in  all  the 
principal  cities  in  America  and  Europe,  and  distrib  Jte  their  goods  to  almost  every  part  of 
the  world.  C,  They  carry  a  full  line  of  goods  suitable  for  Men's  and  Ladies'  Tailoring 
Trade,  Livery,  Hunting  and  Riding  Goods,  Priestley's  Cravenettes,  etc. 


.:'-_- 
->•"•£*-•••'-•    ." :'«  -.'..-.-.--r-^o  ": 


BlpSiP^fSSg 

*:~  "*-f. ,"-l  it-.'"'  '."<"" 

^^^"-'y'-^-":^1"^ 


HERE'S    a   picture  of   the 
Philadelphia   Mint — 
where    all    the    money 
comes  from.     The   money  that's 
coined   here  supplies  the  country 
with  currency. 

There's  another  mint"  in 
Philadelphia,  where  the  good 
Clothes  come  from.  The  Clothes 
that  are  coined"  here,  supply 
dealers  all  over  the  country  with 
a  product  whose  instant  salabil- 
ity  makes  it  as  good  as  "ready 
money"  to  them. 

It's  because — like  the  product 


of  that  other  Philadelphia  Mint — 

Fleisher  Clothing  bears  the 
unmistakable  stamp  of  honest  value 
that  it  is  as  easily  exchangeable 
for  "  coin  of  the  realm." 

We're  not  making  empty  prom- 
ises. There  are  more  than  thirty- 
five  years  of  fulfilment  back  of 
every  promise  we  make.  If  you 
want  to  find  out  just  why  Fleisher 
Clothes  so  easily  get  your  custom- 
ers' money,  suppose  you  ask  us  to 
send  you  sample  garments.  At 
our  expense,  of  course. 


FLEISHER  BROTHERS 

Men's  and  Young  Men's  Clothing 

809-811-813  ARCH  STREET  PHILADELPHIA 

NEW  YORK  :  729  AND  731  BROADWAY 


The  Southwark  Mills 
Company 


MILLS 

Eighth  and  Tasker  Streets  Fifteenth  and  Wharton  Streets 

Third  and  Moore  Streets  Thirty-first  and  Reed  Streets 

Twenty- first  Street  and  Washington  Avenue 

Philadelphia 

MAIN    OFFICE 
Eighth  and  Tasker  Streets 


^Manufacturers  of  High-Grade  Worsted 
and  Woollen  Fabrics  for  Men's 
and  Women's  Wear 


The  product  of  the  mills  of  this  Company  has 
long  been  known  for  its  high  quality.  The  South- 
wark Mills  broadcloths  are  the  standard  of  excel- 
lence in  their  line 


Something  About 
Ribbons  and  Silks 


Tireless  Activity 


turns  the  wheels 

of  commerce.  It  is  not  enough  to 
produce  the  best  to-day,  we  must  do 
better  to-morrow,  or — drop  behind. 

The  slipping  of  a  cog  means 
secondary  place.  Striving  for  the 
best  results  has  given  our  ribbons  a 
national  reputation,  but  reputations 
once  made  (unless  reinforced  steadily 
and  constantly  by  tireless  activity)  are 
soon  lost. 

The  result  for  us  to-day  is  the 
best  general  line  of  ribbons  and  silks 
in  America  manufactured  exclusively 
for  the  retail  trade. 

Kohn,  Adler  &  Co, 

Philadelphia 


LAWN 
MOWERS 


THE  PENNSYLVANIA 
LINE  represents  the 
highest  achievement  in 
Lawn  Mower  making.  Not  only 
are  these  machines  superior  in 
mechanical  detail,  but  both  ma- 
terial and  workmanship  are  of  the 
very  highest  order.  Crucible 
Steel,  hardened  and  tempered  in 
oil,  is  employed  in  all  the  cutting 
blades,  insuring  a  self-sharpening 
feature  not  found  in  other  ma- 
chines. They  have  taken  the 
First  Prize  wherever  exhibited  in 
competition  with  other  makes, 
and  remain  to-day  the  Standard 
Lawn  Mowers  of  the  World. 


Supplee 

Hardware 

Company 

PHILADELPHIA 


3  W's  Lenox 

For  misses,  children  and  little 
men.  60  styles  always  on 
hand.  Price,  from  40  cents 
to  $1.50 

(Made  in  the  Weimer  Building) 


3  W's  Dorcas 

Old  ladies'  hand  turn  comfort 
shoe.  A  trade  bringer.  Price, 
$1.50 

(Made  in  the  Weimer  Building) 


3  W's  Everybodies 

Fine  shoes  for  women  in  all 
leathers.     Price,  $1.60 

(Made  in  the  Weimer  Building) 


Come  and  see  them  made 

Weimer,  Wright 
&  Watkin 

PHILADELPHIA 


WHEN  you  buy  the  Leices- 
ter and  Continental  Mills 
knit  goods  you  obtain  not 
only   what    cannot    be    equalled, 
quality    for    quality,   at  the  same 
prices,    but  goods  that   show  the 
highest  artistic  treatment  in  design 
and  coloring. 

It  is  impossible  to  make  better 
knit  goods  than  are  turned  out  by 
these  mills,  because  every  depart- 
ment of  manufacture  is  conducted 
here,  and  in  each  there  is  the 


constant  aim  to  produce  the  best 
quality  that  can  be  produced  at  a 
given  price.  This  is  the  reason 
why  the  product  of  these  mills  in- 
variably commends  itself  to  the 
discerning  buyer :  and  this  is  true 
in  the  production  of  sweaters,  ath- 
letic goods,  bath-robes,  smoking- 
jackets,  bathing-suits  and  eider- 
down wrappers  and  sacks.  We 
also  sell  eiderdown  cloth,  made  in 
our  own  mills,  and  unequalled  in 
price  and  quality. 


The  Leicester  and  Continental  Mills  Go. 
Germantown 

Philadelphia 


Celebrated  Bundhar  Wilton  Rugs 

(CARPET  AND  SMALL  SIZES) 

French  Wilton  Rugs 

(CARPET  AND  SMALL  SIZES) 

Body  Brussels  Rugs 

(CARPET  SIZES  ONLY) 

Imperial  Art  Squares 

(3  AND  4  YARDS  WIDE  ;  ANY  LENGTH) 


CUT  ORDER   DEPARTMENT 

IN    BUNDHAR    WILTON     CARPETS  - 
FAMOUS    FOR   WEARING    QUALITIES 

THE  MOST  DURABLE  CARPETS  FOR  CONTRACT  WORK 

(Samples  sent  on  approval) 


Ivins,  Dietz  &  Metzger  Company 

1220-22  MARKET  STREET 
PHILADELPHIA,    PENNA. 


BRANCH    OFFICES 

NEW  YORK  CITY,  874  Broadway  BOSTON,  MASS.,  523  Washington  Street 

CHICAGO,  ILL.  ,  1202  Heyworth  Bldg.     DETROIT,  MICH.  ,  1327  Chamber  of  Commerce 

Send  for  Price  Lists  and  Colored  Plates  of  Rugs 


Established 
1850 


TRADE  \     F^     /   MAR 
\l\/ 


Incorporated 
1904 


C.   F.   RUMPP   &   SONS 

Manufacturers  of 

FINE  LEATHER  GOODS 

Fifth  and  Cherry  Streets 

PHILADELPHIA 

New  York  Salesroom,  683  and  685  Broadway 


Lawrence    Gas    Fixture   Manufacturing   Co. 

Designers  and  Manufacturers  of 

GAS,  ELECTRIC  AND  COMBINATION 
FIXTURES 


129,  131,  133  &  135  North 

Twelfth   Street    (Corner  Cherry  Street) 


Philadelphia,  Pa. 


The  Home  of  the  Paints  that  will  Make  You  Famous 


PHILADELPHIA  is  known 
the  world  over  for  her 
hospitality,  historic  asso- 
ciations and  the  great  ex- 
cellence of  her  manufactures.  It 
is  truly  a  manufacturing  city,  one 
of  the  chief  industries  being  Paints, 
Colors,  Varnishes,  etc. 

As  the  apparel  oft  proclaims  the 
man,  so  does  the  paint  a  dealer 
handles  either  make  or  debase  his 
reputation. 

If  you  are  a  druggist,  hardware 
man,  general  storekeeper,  or  han- 
dle paint  in  connection  with  your 
other  lines,  it  would  pay  you  to 
make  the  acquaintance  of  the 
Lucas  Products,  which  by  their 
remarkable  protective,  beautifying 
and  preservative  qualities,  speak 
right  to  the  mind  of  every  intelli- 
gent man.  They  have  won  almost 
national  fame  and  held  it  for  many 
years,  their  peculiar  and  individual 
merits  giving  them  a  distinctive 
place  in  thepaint  economy  of  to-day. 

Respect  your  reputation,  Mr. 
Dealer,  and  resolve  for  1906  to 


handle  the  "  LUCAS  QUALITY  GOODS," 
which  have  back  of  them  over  half 
a  century's  honorable  business 
record.  If  you  come  to  Philadel- 
phia, we  should  be  glad  to  make 
your  acquaintance,  show  you  our 
goods  and  explain  our  methods. 

The  foundation  of  our  business 
was  laid  over  sixty  years  ago  when 
we  commenced  manufacturing, 
and  year  by  year  it  has  been  mate- 
rially strengthened. 

When  the  Lucas  Products  were 
first  placed  upon  the  market,  we 
determined,  come  what  may,  that 
they  must  live  up  to  their  name 
and  reputation.  They  have  done 
this  and  more,  and  to-day  stand 
right  at  the  very  front  as  pre- 
servers, protectors  and  beautifiers. 

If  interested  in  paints,  look  into 
the  subject  carefully.  Then,  and 
then  only,  will  you  understand  why 
twelve  thousand  satisfied  custom- 
ers are  handling  the  Lucas  Goods. 

Our  booklet,  "The  Voice  of 
Experience,"  explains  more  fully. 
Shall  we  send  it  ? 


JOHN  LUCAS  &  CO. 

MANUFACTURERS  OF  COLORS.   PAINTS,  VARNISHES,   ETC. 

NEW  YORK  PHILADELPHIA  CHICAGO 


40  Tears 

OF 

Satisfaction 


HPHAT  is  the  length  of  time  our  special  brands  of  hats — 
SEAL  and  SYLVANIA — have  satisfied  thousands  and 
thousands  of  people.  These  names  are  guarantees  of  quality 
and  style — winning  and  holding  the  confidence  of  the  trade. 
Why  don't  you  handle  such  hats  ?  We  send  samples. 

/.  H.  WELSH  &  CO. 

HATS STRAW  GOODS CAPS 

826  ARCH  ST.          PHILADELPHIA 


For 

Ribbons,  Silks  and  Velvets 


Bowen,  Dungan  Co. 
Importers 

Manufacturers*  Agents 

715,    717,    719   Arch    Street 
Philadelphia 


WE  ARE  READY  TO  SHOW  YOU 

FURNITURE 

unexcelled  by  any  of  its  class  ;  goods  that  are  being  distributed  through 
all  of  the  markets,  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  Coast,  as  well  as 
into  many  of  the  foreign  countries. 


Suites,  $14.00  to  $65.00 

Chiffoniers,  $4.25  to  $20.00 

Sideboards,  $11.50  to  $30.00 

Dressing  Tables,  $5.00  to  $18.50 


CHAMBER  SUITES,  SIDEBOARDS,  CHIFFONIERS, 
TOILET  TABLES,  PRINCESS  DRESSERS  AND 
ODD  BUREAUS  IN  OAK  AND  MAHOGANY 

Catalogue  to  any  Dealer  on  request 

BURT     BROTHERS,  Manufacturers 

NINTH  AND   EMILY  STREETS    ::   ::    ::    PHILADELPHIA 


Nepaul  Mills 


INCLUDED  in   the   product 
of  these  mills  are  Upholstery 
and    Drapery    Fabrics,    Da- 
masks,  Brocatelles,   Armures, 
Gobelins,  Silk  Warps  and  Cotton 
Specialties  and  Tapestry  Curtains 
and  Couch  Covers  in  an  extensive 
variety  of  styles  and  weaves,  Silk 


and  Cotton  Curtains,  Bordered 
Curtains,  Novelty  Mercerized 
Curtains,  etc.,  etc. 

Fabrics  by  the  yard  in  Silk  and 
Satin  Damask,  Brocatelles,  Ar- 
mures, Silk  and  Cotton  Gobelins, 
Mercerized  Damasks,  Silk  Warps 
and  all  grades  of  Cotton  Textures. 


Stead,  Miller  &  Co. 

PHILADELPHIA 

Mills  and  Salesroom:  Fourth  and  Cambria  Streets 


NEW  YORK 

140  Fifth  Avenue 


CHICAGO 

414  Medinah  Temple 

Fifth  Avenue  and  Jackson  Street 


SAN  FRANCISCO 
58  Flood  Building 


An  Old  Merchant's  Letter  to  His  Son 

v 

MY  DEAR  JOHN  : 

The  spring  season  will  soon  be  here,  and  this  is  about  the  time 
you  want  to  be  buying.  Salesmen  are  coming  along  with  early  lines — 
shirtwaists,  silk  waists,  shirtwaist  suits,  wash  skirts,  cloth  skirts,  silk 
coats,  covert  jackets  and  raincoats — and  it's  up  to  you.  Don't  twist 
around  the  point  like  a  terrier  pup  after  his  tail.  When  you  see  the 
line  you  want,  buy  it.  I've  noticed  a  tendency  among  some  merchants 
during  the  last  couple  of  years  to  put  off  their  buying  until  the  last 
horn,  and  when  the  good  merchant  has  his  goods  all  unpacked  on  his 
tables  and  racks,  and  is  taking  in  the  shekels,  these  wise  ones  are 
writing  and  telegraphing  rush  orders.  Everything  attributed  to  progress 
doesn't  belong  there.  The  college  yell  is  a  development  of  the  Indian 
war-whoop,  but  it  isn't  an  improvement.  If  you  play  with  the  spoon, 
you  only  make  your  medicine  harder  to  take  ;  and  don't  forget  that 
procrastination  is  the  biggest  thief  out  of  the  penitentiary.  Things 
haven't  changed  much  since  my  day.  The  only  difference  between 
the  old-fashioned  stomach-ache  and  the  modern  appendicitis  is  that 
the  latter  costs  about  two  hundred  dollars  more.  Business  is  tacked 
down  mighty  tight,  and  the  tack-puller  is  enterprise.  Enterprise 
means  push,  and  push  gets  its  meals  from  the  brain  ;  and  the  brain 
occupies  the  top  floor  of  the  Human  Apartment  House,  with  an 
express  elevator  running  to  it. 

You've  struck  some  quartz,  but  you  must  keep  digging.  The 
only  time  to  sleep  is  when  you're  in  bed.  Rip  Van  Winkle  had  a  good 
nap,  but  when  he  awoke  there  wasn't  even  a  sandwich  for  him.  And, 
above  all,  remember  that  you  get  only  straight  tips  from 

Your  affectionate 

FATHER. 


ESTABLISHED 

1871 


TERMS,  60  EXTRA 
7-10  DAYS 


Philadelphia  Cloak  and  Suit  Company 

129,  131,  133,  135  N.  TWELFTH  STREET 


JOHN  W.  GOODWIN,  President 
JOHN  H.  SMALTZ,  Mgr.  and  Vice-Pres. 
E.  N.  SIMONS,  Secretary  and  Treasurer 


Smaltz- 
Goodwin  Co. 


Makers  of 


ARTISTIC  FOOTWEAR 


PHILADELPHIA 


NEW  YORK,  309  BROADWAY       CHICAGO,  21  QUINCY  ST.       SAN  FRANCISCO,  819  MARKET  ST. 
LONDON,  E.  C.,  27  MILTON  ST. 


[  MAKERS  OF  PLATES  TO  PRINT  TN  ONE  OR  MORE  COLORS  J 


For  Catalogues,  Advertisements,  Commercial  Work,  etc. 


We  Manufacture  Ribbons 
and  Silks 


Do  You  Buy  Direct  ? 


MOST    manufacturers  sell 
their  product  through  a 
commission    house    or 
between-man— we  don-'t. 

No  "extra  profits"  are  paid 
for  on  the  Pine  Tree  make  of 
ribbons  and  silks,  they  come 
direct  from  our  looms  to  the 
dealer. 

Every  yard  of  goods  is  sterling 
value,  backed  by  over  50  years 


of  jobbing  and  manufacturing 
success. 

Each  order  you  place  with  us 
means  better  goods  and  more 
profit  for  you. 

Why  not  write  for  samples  to 
compare  with  any  similar  priced 
ribbons  on  the  market  ? 

You  are  the  Judge! 

We  would  be  pleased  to  show 
you  through  our  mill  at  any  time. 


The  pictures  used  in  illustrating  Silk  Manufacturing 
are  from  our  mills 


L.  Dannenbaum's  Son  &  Co. 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 


806-808-810  Arch  Street 
52  and  54  N.  Eighth  Street 

Owners  and  Operators  The  Pine  Tree  Silk  Mills 


The  Merchants  and  Travelers  Association 

N.E.  COR.  13TH    AND    MARKET   STREETS 

(ENTRANCE,  NO.  9  N.  THIRTEENTH  ST.) 


d.The   headquarters  are   centrally  located,  midway  between  the  principal 
railway  stations,  and  convenient  to  both  retail  and  wholesale  districts. 
CL  Visiting  merchants   are  cordially  invited  to  use  the  facilities  which  the 
association  affords — information  and  telephone  service,  reading-  and  writing- 
rooms,  etc. 


•Trade  Mark 


Merchant  &  Evans  Co. 

Tinplate  and  Metals 

517  Arch  Street,  512  Cherry  Street,  Philadelphia 


WE    ARE    MANUFACTURERS   OF 

HIGH-GRADE   BRIGHT  AND   ROOFING   PLATES 
SOLDER  AND   BABBITT   METALS 
STEREOTYPE    AND    ELECTROTYPE    AND    ALL 
GRADES   OF  MIXED   METALS 

We  also  Manufacture  the 

"STAR"    VENTILATOR   AND   SKYLIGHT   -'STAR"   VENTILATOR 
MERCHANT'S    METAL   "SPANISH"    TILES   AND  "GOTHIC"    SHINGLES 

We  carry  in  stock  Brass  and  Copper  Tubes,  Sheets  and 
Rods,  Galvanized  and  Black  Steel  Sheets,  Sheet  Zinc,  etc. 

Lowest  Prices  consistent  with  Duality 


WINDSOR    HOTEL 

1217-29    FILBERT    ST.  PHILADELPHIA 

Central  for 
Shippers  and  Buyers 

WE'RE    REMODELED 

WE'RE    RENOVATED 

WE'RE  REASONABLE 

FRANK     M.     SCHEIBLEY,    Manager 


Young,  Smyth,  Field  Company 


ESTABLISHED  1842 


WHOLESALE    DISTRIBUTORS 

of  Everything  that  is  Best  in  Philadelphia  Quality 

Hosiery,  Gloves  and  Underwear  ;  White  Goods,  Small  Wares, 
Trimmings  and  Furnishing  Goods,  and  Importers  of  the  Best 
from  the  European  Markets 


Dependable  life 
insurance  extend- 
ing to  age  75 

and 

An  Annuity  thereafter  through- 
out life  of  $50  for  each  $1000 
of  insurance  carried 

All  for  less  than  the  ordinary 
life  rate — example,  age  35, 
$25.53  reduced  by  surplus. 

Rates  for  all  ages,  specimen 
policy,  full  information  upon 
request. 

Original  with  and  issued  only 
by  the  policyholders'  company. 


Penn  Mutual  Life 
Philadelphia 


rs 


University  of  California 

SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 

405  Hilgard  Avenue,  Los  Angeles,  CA  90024-1388 

Return  this  material  to  the  library 

from  which  it  was  borrowed. 


A     000  581  876     o 


